Love Is A Circus
by Sonya Pattie May
Summary: In the patchwork family that runs a circus, romances, betrayals and friendships rule the lives of the artists.  SasukexNaruto, GaaraxShikamaru, KibaxHinata,  SakuraxTemari . Rated M for language and Yaoi/H-stuff in the later chapters.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Right... The prologue to my brand new story, Love Is A Circus. This is going to be a long story, meaning quite a few chapters. I'm warning you now that I might need some time to complete and update new chapters, but reviews always work wonders (I hope you get my point xD)  
>Okeydokey, here we go!<p>

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><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

Never underestimate a newcomer, especially when his name is Sasuke Uchiha. My life was turned upside down from the moment I met him, and it stayed that way. So many memories…

My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I used to work in a circus as an illusionist. My speciality was creating clones of myself, sometimes up to a few hundred. Many called us circus people freaks, but we saw ourselves as a patchwork family with special talents and abilities. Shikamaru, our boss and sort of big brother (although he was about our age and the smallest boy), always told us to hold our heads high and be proud of what we are; and that's what we did. We fought ourselves through the hard daily life, never resting, never pausing to hesitate, always moving on.

From what Orochimaru told me during his campfire-story-telling-evenings, I had been found lying near Shikamaru's father's tent as a baby; no-one knew who my parents were. I never wanted to know who they were, and never will. They abandoned me for a reason, so maybe they don't want me to know them either.

The earliest childhood memories I have are the ones of me trying to ride Akamaru Senior, a dog used for the dog show in the circus, and almost being bitten by one of Orochimaru's big snakes for attempting to poke its eye.

There is one memory which has burned itself vividly into my mind: The arrival of Sasuke. I was already fifteen then and really excited to meet my new brother. It turned out that Sasuke was a year older than me. And a bastard know-it-all.

From the moment I saw him, I knew he meant trouble. And trouble he was. Turned my world upside down, and then became the centre of it. Stupid baaka.

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><p><strong>AN: **Tadaa! Now, review! xD


	2. Everyday Life

**A/N: **Chapter 1! I hope you'll like it. Yes, I know it's unusual to have a good Orochimaru but I just didn't want to be that strict with the character ruler. Sowwy. Sorry to all the Shikamaru-fans out there for calling pineapple-kun. TenTen thought it might make him cut his hair. *gets hit by TenTen ("how could you betray me?")*

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Naruto series or any of the characters within but I wish I did. If I did Itachi would be a stripper, Sakura would be exiled for being a stupid bitch who doesn't have any regard for other people's feelings, Sasuke and Naruto would marry, Gaara would be a model and Kiba would stop painting his face. Tadaa! Oh and Tsunade would admit that she actually has breast implants :P

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><p><strong><span>Everyday Life<span>**

It was hot that morning, and Naruto could feel the sweat trickle down his forehead. He had been up since dawn, trying to find a way to sneak into Shika's office and find something interesting. Everybody had their secrets, right? Right? So why not also that lazy bastard Shikamaru?

"Oi, Narutoo!" Naruto flinched. _Shit_. "Ne, Naruto, wassup? Watcha doin'? Tell me, tell me, I could help! Come on tell meee!" "Shaddup Kiba, you just ruined a whole day of planning and woke up Mr Pineapple-Boss! Thanks to you, I can give up- ah. "

From behind the talkative bushy haired boy appeared another boy. He was smaller than Kiba and Naruto, but had a strongly built body and hair that was bound in something that was supposed to be a ponytail but looked more like a pineapple. Shikamaru loomed over them, his aura making him appear far larger and scarier than he actually was.

"Give up what, Naruto?", he asked in a friendly voice and smiled. _Uh-oh, friendly-face-alarm, _Naruto's brain warned.

"Uuuh… uhm, nothing, really, Shika", he started, hesitantly, dreading the smaller boy's nearing outburst of rage. _Ugh, he's really pissed, what an aura!_

Shikamaru only smiled broader and an evil glint appeared in his eyes. "I'll tell you what you can give up: _You can friggin' give up your lunch and dinner you idiots I told you not to disturb my friggin' nap you two morons!" _he roared, and both Naruto and Kiba felt their hair stand on end_. _"Get out of here before I let Hinata cast some evil curse on you!"

They didn't need to be told twice. The two boys raced out of the tent without a second thought and ran straight into… an unsuspecting Orochimaru.

"Wah! What the hell are you two doing here?" Then, seeing the flushed faces of the two rowdies and a seething Shikamaru in the background, he understood. "Maa, you two better look out for yourselves. Pineapple-kun is sure to explode someday and he really might kick you sorry asses."

Out of the tent a shout could be heard. _"And friggin' stop calling me PINEAPPLE-KUN!" _All three of them laughed. Ever since he was small they had called Shikamaru that name. Although TenTen had never let out an opportunity to convince Shika to cut his rebellious hair, it was no good. He stuck to his point and continued walking around looking like a pineapple, mostly ignoring the other's taunts but, like now, occasionally exploding with anger. Naruto stuck out his tongue to the angry Shikamaru. Then he ran for dear life as the boy aimed one of his throwing knives at his head.

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><p>"N-Naruto- kun?" A shy voice behind him made Naruto turn around. Hinata blushed and looked at her feet. "What is it Hina-chan?" He grinned. She blushed so sweetly when he called her that, and he really enjoyed teasing her. "U-uhm… Tsunade-san told me to call you for dinner. „Ehhh? I thought I wasn't allowed any?" Naruto's stomach growled in protest. He sighed. "Thanks, Hinata. I'll be there in a second."<p>

When he arrived at the fire, the first thing he saw was a pouting Shikamaru glaring at Tsunade-baa-chan. She glared back and won the fight, so Shikamaru had to satisfy himself with ignoring everyone and stabbing his food menacingly instead. Naruto grinned and seated himself next to Gaara and Kiba, who were wolfing down a big portion of what looked like rabbit stew and smelled like… oh well. He got himself a plate and started eating. Luckily the food didn't taste as bad as it smelled.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Tsunade announced that she had something to say. "She always has something to say, why does she have to announce it this time?" Ino whispered to Sakura, and both of them snickered. Gaara rolled his eyes at them. "Because she likes to feel important", he stated with a completely straight face. Ino started giggling even more. Kiba grinned sheepishly. Gaara just ignored them.

"Everyone, listen now. Tomorrow a friend of mine will bring a newcomer to us. His name is Sasuke and he's been left an orphan because of a family tragedy. I want all of you to welcome him warmly. He will be a member of our family just like all of you, and you will look at him as you brother just as you regard all the others as your siblings.

"Ne, Baa-chan, you're not my sister, you're too old!" Kiba laughed.

"Eh, and Orochimaru, he's more an uncle than a brother, ne?" Sakura added, and Ino got a giggling fit.

Tsunade looked up to the sky, exasperated. "Just… be good to him, okay? Now off to bed!"

Everyone started moaning and complaining. "Jeez, and I thought you all were teenagers, and not some cry-babies!" an irritated Gaara said. "Shut up, I wanna sleep." Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru followed him into their sleeping tent. Soon enough, they all fell asleep. Only Naruto couldn't; he was too busy wondering about the newcomer. What was this Sasuke like? He was also an orphan, but unlike Naruto he had known his parents. _I wonder if they were nice people… _

Outside he could hear Tsunade-baa-chan and Orochimaru discussing.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to take in that boy? I don't think I like the thought of looking after a traumatized child."

"Don't worry, Kakashi told me in his letter that he's a quiet boy, very composed and calm, he doesn't seem to remember anything that happened… that night. He's a bit of an introvert, true, but he doesn't seem to be up to any trouble either."

Orochimaru sighed. "I still don't know what to think. All this tricky business about that Itachi guy… All of this just doesn't look like anything good."

"Well, we'll have to take the risk then, won't we? I won't reject that child now. So let's forget about that… _incident_ and focus on integrating the boy into our little family, okay?"

Naruto felt his eyelids getting heavier. _No… I want to know more…_ he yawned. _So tired…_ He fell asleep and dreamt of TenTen dancing with her beautiful red and white fans inside one of Hinata's crystal balls, singing a lullaby.

Somewhere in the background he could see a child sitting on a chair, watching TenTen dance. It had magnificent black hair that shimmered with a blue light in the darkness, and deep onyx eyes. Naruto stood staring at the child, bewitched by its marble skin and the aura around it. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The black of his hair contrasted with the red flashes of TenTen's fans, and Hinata's crystal ball emitted a ghostly light that engulfed everything in a pale blue mist. He liked this dream.

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><p><strong>AN**: I forgot to say sorry for making Kiba act stupid. Sowwy. *bows*

Now review, make me feel like I actually did a good job or tell me I sucked and I'll try even harder! *author gets a dangerous glint in her eyes that can only mean... raping the internet for inspirational fluff/smut/whatever needed and crashing down the computer in an effort to write a story as fast as possible*

Loke so I might think of buying a new keyboard to write on, just for you ;)

I swear I didn't mean to threaten! Agh! Just please be merciful!


	3. The Newcomer

**A/N: **Chapter 2 fresh and ready. Took me a looong time to figure out how to slowly develop the characters here since this will be a long story to tell. So read, review and hopefully like! To all Gaara-fans: Sorry for taunting him, I just had to. To all Naruto-fans: Sorry for making him feminine, he's just my favorite Uke (oops, I slipped...) *author gets wounded by Naruto's shurikens ("don't call me Ukeeeee!")* *author gets saved by happy Sasuke ("thank you, I always wanted Naru to be below!")*

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the series Naruto nor any of the characters within but I do own Orochimaru's good side. (HA!) If I owned any of the characters, I'd have a lot of fans in the Yaoi-loving circles of this world. *grin*

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><p><strong><span>The Newcomer<span>**

A tune started playing. It was _Bounce_, and the song always managed to tear the boys out of their sleep successfully. That is, of course, with one exception: Naruto was the indisputable King of Oversleeping. No matter what sort of alarm anyone tried to use, Naruto only woke up when his body told him to. Even Shikamaru wasn't _that_ lazy.

After two eternities, Naruto yawned loudly and stretched himself, cracking his knuckles smartly. He yawned again, and then again, making sure all sleep was out of his still dazed mind before he went to the showers. Gaara, Kiba and Shikamaru were already coming back, their hair wet and skin glistening in the morning sun. Naruto noticed that Gaara's hair had grown again.

"Gaara, your bangs are covering your face again, you'll have to cut them!"

"Oh, and _why_ would I do that, Naruto-_san_?"

Naruto pouted. "I'm just saying… After all, we don't want your hair hiding that beautiful face of yours, ne?" He teased.

If there was something Gaara detested, it was showing his face. The main reason was the strange birthmark on his forehead which looked like the Japanese sign for love. Another reason were the people who would gawk at him. Gaara was very good-looking, and his red hair that contrasted with the black make-up he wore and his white skin made him look even better. He blushed ever so slightly, but Naruto noticed.

"Ah! You blushed! My cute Gaara-ni blushed!"

Kiba laughed. "You know, if Gaara looked a little more feminine, you would think you two were boyfriend and girlfriend", Shikamaru smiled an overly sweet smile. "Gaara-chan, did you have a date with Naruto already?"

Gaara sent him a death glare, while Shikamaru rolled his eyes and decided to turn his attention to a suddenly very interesting patch of grass. Naruto laughed softly. Gaara, a girl? Gaara was too handsome and masculine to be a girl. _Unlike myself_, Naruto thought a little sadly. He was smaller than Gaara and Kiba, and his long blonde eyelashes made his face look more feminine, despite his angular features and toned body. He realised that Kiba was looking at him with a strange expression. It looked like… affection?

"And what about you, little blonde one? Batted your eyelashes at anyone yet? Na-ru-to-nii-chan?" Now it was Gaara's turn to taunt.

"Baaka! I'm off", he told the others. It was too hot in the sun. Or maybe it was the look that Kiba had given him that made him feel so uneasy? He needed a shower, now.

While showering, Naruto's thoughts wandered from Kiba to Sasuke. When would he come? What was he like? How did he look like? He had so many questions...

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><p>By the time Kakashi arrived with the new boy, it was already mid-day. TenTen was the first one to spot them, as she had been practising her dancing on the small nearby hill. Her red dress flew behind her as she ran down the hill, shouting. "They're here, baa-chan! They're here!"<p>

Naruto ran towards and past her, climbing the steep rock just next to the hill. Not far away, two figures were coming in his direction. One was tall with sparkling silver hair, the other one smaller with black hair that glistened in the sun.

The smaller figure looked up as they came nearer, and Naruto was struck by the beauty of the onyx eyes that hid behind black bangs of silky hair. Their eyes met. Naruto stared at the boy in wonder. The boy stared back, and something in his eyes made Naruto nervous. There was no happiness in that boy's eyes. In fact, there were no feelings in them at all. And yet Naruto felt like he was drowning in an endless black ocean, never reaching the bottom, constantly floating in the middle of nowhere. He was enchanted.

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><p>When Kakashi and Sasuke reached the camping place, Tsunade greeted them warmly. Then everyone stepped forward and introduced themselves. Sasuke remained silent all that time, only looking at everybody with a tired look on his face that could easily be mistaken for boredom. Or maybe it really was boredom and Naruto was only trying to make the boy look likeable. He wasn't sure, to be honest.<p>

But when Naruto introduced himself, the look changed. It was just a tiny twitch in the corner of his mouth, but Naruto was sure he'd seen it. Had the brunet just smirked? He couldn't be certain, but a feeling told him the smirk had absolutely no positive meaning. Sasuke meant trouble, he just knew it. And Naruto just _loved_ trouble. Suddenly the boy said something, for the first time that day.

"Naruto? That's an unusual name for a girl." Then the raven's eyes set on Naruto's boxer shorts and the obvious indication of a masculine organ in them. "Oh, wait. You're a boy after all."

The blonde blushed from the tips of his yellow hair down to his pointed chin. _Great_. They meet for the first time, and the newcomer already hates him. This was going to be a very long, very tiresome, very troublesome rest of his life if things continued this way. _Great. Absolutely marvellous_. _Why me, _Naruto asked himself.

"Y-you, where are you even looking, stupid perverted baaka!"

He swivelled around and ran off and only stopped when he arrived at his favourite hiding place, the topmost branch of a big cherry tree. He sat there for a while, brooding, until a voice from down below made him jump with surprise. No-one knew this was his hiding place.

"Naruto? Are you there?"

Naruto decided to stay still. Maybe the person would go away. He just wanted to be alone for some time. After all, he had just screwed up all his hopes for a friendship between him and the boy with that beautiful hair, Sasuke. _Wait – what am I thinking? Get out of my head, stupid idiot!_

"Naruto, I know you're up there somewhere. I can see your sandal."

Kiba. Only Kiba had such good eyes to be able to see him from so far away. He even had better eyes than Shika, who _had_ to see well if he wanted to throw his knives properly.

"Come down, okay? You've been up there for almost three hours now. Tsunade-baa-chan is really worried, everyone is looking for you."

"Yeah, right. Like hell they're looking for me. Even if they were, I don't give a shit. How did you even know where I was?"

"I… uh, I…" Naruto could almost see Kiba blush. "We-well, to be honest, I kinda followed you here once, and I thought maybe you'd be here this time too. Please come down, everyone really is worried. _I_ am worried", he added, somewhat reluctantly.

Naruto decided to come down after all. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear his name. _So they're really looking for me, huh?_ He slid of his branch and landed on the one below him. Trough the months he had spent climbing up and down this tree, he had become really good at it. By the time he had reached the middle of the tree, only a minute had passed. He was getting better. Suddenly-

"Naruto, look out!"

The branch he was standing on made a loud, sickening crack and Naruto felt himself falling. Time stopped. He was just hovering in the air. Just as the blonde was beginning to wonder when he would land on the ground, he felt a sharp pain in his back. Then his arm started aching. He heard a scream. Kiba…

Something – or someone – lifted him up and carried him away. Everything was blurred and the sounds around him were muffled, as if he were in a separate room from everything else. Then everything went black.

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><p><strong>AN: **A CLIFFY! I am so mean! *evil laugh* If you want more, review, like, and so on and so forth and don't hate me because there will be a next chapter which will solve the mysteries! Under the conditions above of course. *another absolutely mean and evil laugh which suddenly stops because of the hordes of readers that are trying to lynch the author for making a cliffy* damn. *author hides in a dark cave with her laptop, trying to write the next chapter before she is ripped to pieces*


	4. Surprise

**A/N: **Hello again! I'm terribly sorry this chapter needed so long to be uploaded, but I kind of abandoned this story for a while due to lacking inspiration. But it's back again now. Actually this chapter was supposed to be up ages ago but I realized it wasn't, so here it is. I'm currently working on another project (coming soon) so it might take a while to upload new chapters but I promise I'll do my best. :D

Also, I'd like to thank my very first reviewer for this story: you've saved it, no joke! I love you xD  
>Anyways, enjoy!<p>

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Sadly. And (finally!) the following chapter contains _light_ (I repeat: _light, which means barely any_) Yaoi, BoyxBoy, the stuff you're all here for, just in T-rated mode right now. Which doesn't mean that couldn't change soon...  
>Oh yeah and rated M for language<p>

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><p><strong>Surprise<strong>

He could feel his head bobbing up and down. Why was it bobbing? Heads don't bob when you fall, do they? He tried to open his eyes, but shut them tight immediately after he was blinded by the evening sun in the trees above him. His head hurt. He tried to say something – it sounded more like "mmmumblemumble" than anything else, though. He realized he was being carried.

"Shh", a voice near his ear said. "Don't speak, it'll only make you dizzy."

Naruto made an attempt to answer and failed miserably. The voice was right; it _did_ make him dizzy. After a while he managed to say "Thanks, Kiba", then he drifted away. The last thing he heard was a soft "hn" – he didn't even stay awake long enough to wonder why Kiba would say "hn", which was very un-Kiba-like.

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><p>Someone had laid him on a bed; he could feel the sheets underneath him. His head hurt, his back hurt, his arm gave him the impression that it had been run over by a bulldozer and his general condition was awful.<p>

Naruto decided not to move ever again. His body would fall apart if he did, he was sure of it. He would just lie there for the rest of his life, not doing anything. It might even be fun, especially if it meant that everyone would have to take care of him. It wasn't such a bad idea. But then Tsunade-baa-chan would immediately see if he was alright and shoo him off to work, so it wasn't such a good idea after all. On the other side he _wasn't_ okay, so –

When Naruto reflected on it later, he would say it felt like a rose petal had settled on his lips; light and soft. When it actually happened, it felt like a bolt of lightning. A slight touch of a pair of lips against another, and Naruto felt his skin prickle where it had been kissed, sending electrical shocks all over his body. It was a weird sensation, but it wasn't unpleasant.

It felt quite okay.

Actually, it felt really good.

To tell the truth, it was way better than he had ever imagined his first kiss to be.

He opened his eyes. Slowly everything came into focus, and Naruto recognized the familiar yellowish light that usually illuminated the boys' sleeping tent. Then he saw Sasuke who was still leaning over him. There was a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. When he met Naruto's gaze, the pink tinge changed into bright red. He turned away quickly. Naruto stared. Then he gasped.

"You… you… _you_?"

Naruto sat up in hid bed, ignoring the pain. But before he could say anything else, Sasuke ran out of the tent. Naruto fell back onto his pillows. What was that supposed to mean? Had Sasuke really kissed him, or had he just imagined it? And what was Kiba doing there? _Oh. Oh holy fuck. Did he see?_

Judging by the look on Kiba's pale face, he had seen. Naruto tried to explain.

"Kiba, what you just saw… it-it wasn't what… I mean I don't understand either, but I swear, I don't have anything to do with… Kiba?"

Kiba was still just standing there without moving. Naruto wasn't even sure if the boy was breathing. Then he suddenly slumped onto the ground. He started shaking.

"Kiba? Kiba! What's going on?"

But Kiba didn't answer. He just looked at Naruto, tears in his eyes. That didn't make any sense.

"Why are you crying?", Naruto laughed shakily. The sight of the crying boy in front of him made him nervous. "It was just a kiss." _My first one, though, but that's beside the point, _he added to himself.

Still no answer. The brunet sat there, shaking. Just shaking. Silent. Sad? Embarrassed? Angry? Then he stood up slowly. He walked towards Naruto, and the blonde noticed a dangerous glint in the other's eyes he wasn't sure he liked. Kiba lowered himself onto Naruto's bed. He studied his face, tracing a finger over the whiskers on the blonde's cheeks, then over his eyebrows, his nose, then he continued down his neck… lower…, to his chest… finally he stopped at the place where Naruto's heart pounded against his ribs. What was going on?

"Why did you let him do that?" Kiba asked with a quaking voice. "Why did you let him do that?"

"Kiba…" Naruto was completely startled. "Kiba, I told I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Why did you let him hold you like that? You never let me do that, not anyone, but him… he carried you all the way here, and you let him!" he growled. He was really furious, Naruto sensed it.

"Eh? Kiba, what are you talking about? I thought… I thought you were the one carrying me!" _Somebody tell me what is going on!_

"_Sasuke_ carried you, you idiot. Whenever you were hurt, whenever I would offer to carry you, you would push me away and grin and say you were alright, everything was fine. You always played the strong one, never let anybody see you cry. That's why I followed you to that tree. I knew you weren't as strong as you pretended to be, and I was right. But you let him carry you anyway. Him! You don't even _know_ him, you don't even _like_ him! Naruto, why don't you see? Why don't you realize?"

_Realize what_, Naruto thought worriedly.

"I love you. I always have, and I swear, I'll never let you be harmed, just let me be there for you! And I'll never let _that guy_ near you again, don't worry. He's only going to hurt you, I know it."

The brunet bent down and kissed Naruto. The kiss wasn't at all like Sasuke's; it was rough and helpless, as if Kiba were desperate to prove himself. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel right!

"Hold on a second."

Kiba tore away from Naruto, and the blonde opened his eyes. Behind the brunet he saw Sasuke. The raven haired boy was glaring at Kiba with dark eyes that seemed to hurl lightning's at him. He was obviously very, very angry. He pushed Kiba away from the bed and towered over him, positioning himself between Naruto and the dog boy.

"He doesn't want you", he said smoothly and smirked.

"Oh, but he wants you, huh? Keep on dreaming, _orphan_", the brunet snarled.

Sasuke's fist hit him right in the middle of his face. Kiba roared, enraged, and charged at Sasuke. They started wrestling on the floor, punches flew in every direction, the two boys growling and snarling like two angry dogs. Naruto just sat there and gaped in shock. He was in a bad dream, he had to be. Kiba wasn't fighting with the new one, Naruto didn't have an arm in bandages and he would wake up soon and everything would be alright, right? Right?

"_Stop it!_", he screamed. Dream or no dream, he had enough. "Stop fighting", he said, this time with a tired voice. Kiba stood up, panting. He took one menacing look at Sasuke, then glanced at Naruto apologetically and ran out of the tent. Sasuke grunted and wiped his bleeding lip. He glared at Kiba as he ran out, and then, finally, he looked at Naruto. His dark eyes were full of anger. He stood up, too, and walked up to Naruto, who was still sitting in his bed.

"Sorry for the inconvenience", he muttered. Then he turned around and walked out.

Naruto collapsed back onto his pillows and stared at the orange canvas of the tent. He didn't understand the world anymore; everything was happening so fast. _Maybe it'll all go back to normal if I go to sleep. When I wake up, everything will be okay._ He closed his eyes. A single tear ran down his cheek. Sasuke who still stood at the tent grimaced at the sight.

Outside the tent, Kiba hit his fist against a tree. He was furious at himself. That kid had ruined everything. The moment he came, all he had caused was trouble. There had to be a way to get rid of him. Kiba growled under his breath. Time to let the curtains fall on a certain raven haired someone.

Sasuke breathed slowly in and out. He had let go of himself – something he had tried not to do ever since Itachi had done what he had done. _Emotions make you weak, remember._ Itachi had played with his emotions and the feelings of his parents to make them weak and unsuspecting. In the end, it was their ruin. He killed them all within seconds. But even he was weak. He spared Sasuke. But Sasuke knew better than to believe in Itachi's affection. In his heart he knew that this was the torture Itachi had planned for him: To walk the world an orphan, abandoned, filled with hate.

And yet that boy with the blue eyes made him feel warm inside for the first time in ages. He wasn't sure if he should let those feelings flourish or if he should bury them deep inside. Naruto could become a weakness he did not want. On the other side, he reminded Sasuke what it meant to be alive…

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><p><strong>AN: **Well, so much for this chapter. I hope the plot didn't go too fast, and I also hope I didn't disappoint any Kakashi-fans for not mentioning him anymore (dom't worry I'm sure he'll get some moment somewhere and if not, sorry again). I also realize that Kiba is kind of schizo because one moment he's all like hyper and now he's more the earnest and violent drama queen... Oh dear I have to work on the linearity of my characters more...

Thanks for reading, review, like, do whatever you do... I'm off to try and write a new chapter and yes I am still the same person who wrote those crayzeh A/N's, I'm just a bit older and a bit wiser now. Just wait 'til I get the flow again!

Oh and another thing: Who the fuck changed the settings for uploaded documents so I have to constantly change the format? I. Don't. Want. My. Story. Text. To. Be. Centered! Please please please someone change this shit!

-Sonya


	5. Scheme

**A/N: **So everybody... el nuevo capitulo... haha I don't even speak Spanish so don't even try to review in that language, I won't understand a thing ^^  
>Anyways, this chapter is a bit longer than expected, I might actually replace it if I get to write a better version. The reason why is because I didn't have a better way to explain how things roll in the circus - by the way I still don't have a name for it, would be nice if you left a suggestion in a review, just any idea ;) Also, I know I'm not exactly sticking to the original charas' characters too much, but it feels right so for the moment you can flame me all you want, I won't change Kiba. I kinda like him when he's aggressive. Rawr.<br>This chapter is dedicated to TF, who was kind enough to remind me that TenTen is brown-haired and not the person I wanted in my story. To all my readers, I am deeply sorry to have committed this sin! The person I meant was **Temari**. So in the previous chapters, please picture Temari and ignore the name, okay?

**Warning**: A bit of language and stuff... no fluff this time... sowwy.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto though I wish I did and if I ever make a fortune I'll sure buy some shares! Oh and Gaara would be off limits to middle-aged married women. He's mine. Mine. Mine. *get's slapped by some random married lady* (Who the fuck do you think you are? Gaara is mine!) *bitchfight escalates* Okay no need for you to see this just go read the chapter!

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><p><strong>Scheme<strong>

„Oi! Oi new guy!"

Sasuke stopped and turned around. Kiba jogged up to him.

"Uh, listen, I umm… wanted to say sorry. I mean, for calling you orphan and all that. I guess I was, uh, a bit on edge." Kiba rubbed his neck, grinning awkwardly. Sasuke looked at him, waiting. The other boy seemed to contemplate running away, but Sasuke guessed that would have made him an even bigger sucker so he raised an eyebrow to encourage the already quite sore loser to go on. "So… let's start over. Whaddya say to that, huh?" He laughed a tad too loudly and patted Sasuke's back roughly, first making him cough, then frown and draw away.

"Give me a good reason", he said. Kiba grinned and looked at him as if he hadn't understood.

"A reason?" He pretended to consider. "Hm. Well let's just say that…" He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Sasuke's shirt. "…if you don't do what I say, you'll have one hell of a problem, _kid_."

"Your conditions?" came the bored answer. Kiba's eyes widened the tiniest bit. Obviously he hadn't expected such a quick defeat. But he won back his composure in no time. Nevertheless Sasuke had noticed and smirked slightly.

"Never ever so much as look at Naruto again, don't come nearer to him than two metres and stay the hell out of my way", Kiba snarled. "If you don't, I'll-"

"Kiba! What are you doing?"

Kiba let go of Sasuke and turned to go. Glaring at him one last time, he stomped off.

"Just teaching our new _brother_ some manners is all, Shika. Nothing in particular."

Shikamaru watched Kiba go and then turned to Sasuke, who still stood at the same spot, smirking smugly. It occurred to Shika that he didn't seem affected at all. Nevertheless he asked whether he was okay.

"Kiba tends to overreact when strangers mix with his friends. He gets jealous pretty easily. But it seems you were pretty quick in pissing him off. What did you do?", he asked, curious.

"Hn", the raven sneered, looking at where Kiba had stood. "I guess I hit a sore point there." With that he walked past Shikamaru, not even once looking in his direction.

* * *

><p>In his tent, Naruto pondered away, fighting the urge to jump out of bed and have a fit. For one thing he wasn't physically able to do it – the bandaged arm and twisted ankle didn't exactly make things easier, for another it just wasn't the thing a fifteen-year-old in his right mind would do. On the other hand, Naruto <em>wasn't<em> in his right mind. He was confused, and angry, and… and confused and… well he wasn't in what you'd call a very good state. Question over question over question piled up in his head: How had Sasuke gotten to the tree? Why had he caught him? Why had he k-k-kissed him? What was the whole deal about Kiba? And most importantly, why was Naruto so affected by the kissing thing. Okay, it had been his first kiss. No big deal. Absolutely no big deal. It just fucking wasn't a big deal. Not at all. Just a kiss. A kiss. From a… boy. Okay that made it exceptional. But still not a big deal. Okay it was a hell of a big deal. Naruto let out an exasperated groan. This was just too much for his poor brain… He closed his eyes, trying to focus on something different than just obsessing about… Two boys fighting over him. Yes, that was pretty much what was going on. It surprised him how easy the solution was. But why were they arguing over him? No wait they started fighting because Kiba called Sasuke an orphan, right? Right. It wasn't about him. Good to know. Naruto sighed, relieved. He could go to sleep in peace, now that everything was explained.

"Knock knock", came a familiar voice. He heard the soft sound of footsteps on fabric and soon felt the smell of mint chewing gum fill the air.

"Hey, Shika." Naruto smiled, still keeping his eyes closed; he suddenly felt sleepy. "What's up?"

"Well, um I ran into Kiba and the newbie-"

"Sasuke."

"Uh, yeah, I know. So I ran into them and it seemed like Kiba was kinda threatening Newb-"

"Sasuke."

"Yes, I get it already, jeez, don't be annoying. Anyway I wanted to know if you knew anything about it. I mean maybe you know why Kiba's started hating on Newb- Sasuke so quickly?"

Naruto opened his eyes and sat up slowly. "They got into a fist fight here", he said, trying to sound indifferent, "but then Kiba kinda stormed off so I dunno anything more." He chose not to add the kissing part, as he knew Shikamaru would have either laughed or looked at him with that look he gave people when they were just acting dumb. Usually he didn't use that look. The only person who regularly got 'that look' was Kiba, which wasn't very surprising since he acted hyper all the time. Naruto suspected that over the years, Shikamaru had just gotten used to giving Kiba that look so now he always did, even if the boy said something pretty reasonable – it could look comical at times.

"Oi, what're you spacing out for, Blondie?" Naruto blinked confusedly. "You started drooling. Wipe it off, it's gross." The blond jumped and started wiping his mouth frantically, making Shikamaru grin. "Just joking, dude, take it easy." Naruto glared at him, but was relieved nevertheless. The initial tension on Shika's face was gone. He grinned sheepishly.

"So, I guess I should get going. Baa-chan needs help with some Mail she received from this billionaire dude who wants us to perform at his place… what was his name… well whatever. See ya."

With that the boy disappeared from sight behind the orange canvas of the tent.

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><p>Sasuke was just about to walk into the cute blond bo- Naruto's sleeping tent when he heard a voice pipe up from behind him.<p>

"Uhm, Sasuke-kun?"

He turned around. In front of him was a girl that seemed to be dress in nothing but red and white. She had a red and white tunic on with leggings that were white on one side and red on the other, and red and white ribbons that tied together her sleek brown hair. In one hand she was holding two fans – also (_surprise, surprise_, Sasuke thought) red and white – and a fire extinguisher, and in the other a box of matches, a packet of what looked like self-made gunpowder, a ghetto blaster and some glue. He stood, waiting. He hoped to get rid of her soon enough, especially because he couldn't help noticing how she kept looking at him sideways.

"Uhm, I was wondering if you could help me carry some of these things?" She asked timidly. Obviously she was either shy of new people or just in awe of his – Sasuke didn't try to deny it – good looks. It wasn't like he hadn't noticed how people stared. They were so impressed by "that handsome boy, so silent and composed, I feel so sorry for his loss", it almost made him sick. But he forced an indifferent look on his face, shooing away the angry glint in his eyes, and took the fire extinguisher, the blaster and the fans from the girl. He remembered that her name was Temari, and wondered who on earth had given her that name. They walked in silence for a minute or two, Temari being the only one of the two of them actually knowing where they were heading to – Sasuke just followed her; something he rarely did, but as he was new here he didn't really have a choice, did he. Temari seemed to be uncomfortable about the silence and looking for a good excuse to say something, so Sasuke finally thought he ought to have the grace of saving her.

"So, what were you doing with all this… stuff?" He asked. He was perfectly aware that he wasn't good at small talk, but this had to suffice. With this girl, anyways. She really did seem relieved.

"Well, um, I was practicing my choreography up there on the hill, where nobody's disturbed by the music. The fire extinguisher is for the gunpowder, in case you were wondering. My performance is dancing with flaming fans and lots of small explosions around my feet whenever I land on the ground." She must have notice the doubting look on Sasuke's face because she quickly added: "It sounds weird when I say it like this but once you see it, like, live, it's pretty cool." She blushed, realizing she'd been rambling. Sasuke only answered with a _hn_.

"So, uh… What's your speciality?" Temari gave it a go.

"My speciality?" Sasuke stared at her, his face a big question mark. He hadn't thought of that yet. He had many talents, of course, but none of them could be showed off in a _circus_. Well he could do some magic tricks, something… Itachi… (it was still hard to even so much as _think _that man's name) had taught him to do years ago. Or he could- He was interrupted by Temari's talk.

"Well you see it's because everyone here has some kind of talent. Like, I can dance pretty well and I like fire so I combined those two things and I have my show. Then Ino and Sakura, you know, the two sisters, one with pink hair and the other with really long blond hair, they're acrobats. You should see them perform, they're really cool. Um, Kiba runs a dog show, he's kind of a dog whisperer, and Orochimaru has a thing for giant snakes so well yeah he obviously has a snake show. Personally I prefer to stay away from his pets, they're just… ew. And then we have… um… oh yeah, Hinata, she can see the future." Here, Sasuke looked at her very doubtfully. "Oh you don't believe in that stuff? Well wait 'til you get to know Hinata. She's the real deal, believe me. Hm, for example, did you know she's blind? Yeah she is, but she _sees_ anyway, like, with her 'inner eye' or something. Oh and then we have the managing team, Gaara, Shikamaru and Baa-chan, that's Tsunade. The funny thing is that you'd think that Baa-chan is the director right? Well she isn't. She's more like the face of the circus, for the media and stuff like that. The brain behind it all is Shikamaru. He does all the math and organizes everything. And Gaara is the guy with the resources. He just popped up one day and said he wanted to join in on the deal and that he had 'good friends that would always be happy to help out'." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Temari's suggestive undertone. The girl sighed. "He has friends in high places. Simple. But if you ask me", she lowered her voice dramatically, "I bet it's, like, married middle aged women who like spending their money on handsome toy boys."

By now they had reached the girl's section of tents and Sasuke gratefully put down his load. He'd had enough talk for today. Actually it was more than enough – his right ear was starting to hurt from the girl's prattling. He'd never understand how girls managed to talk so much. Ever. He walked away, ignoring Temari's grateful looks and waving. As he passed the dog pen he realized that Temari had forgotten to mention what the cute blond b- Naruto did. _Well, what a wonderful excuse to visit him…_

**tbc**

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><p><strong>AN:** So how was it? I apologize if the change in language was noticeable. You see the previous chapters were written ages ago and my style has changed a bit, but I'm trying to stick to my old style as much as possible for this story. Everything for my readers ... lolz  
>Review, like, make me happy! xD Love ya! -Sonya<p> 


	6. Unpredictable

**A/N:** A new chapter! I know I'm taking much too long to update new chapters but you see I have to go to rehearsals on the weekends for a school play and then I have loads of homework (I hate teachers) and and and. Plus I'm writing on two other stories. I'll upload them soon, I'm just not satisfied with them yet, but I'm putting lots of work into them so check them out once they're up. ^^ Anyway here we gooo!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. Meh.

**Warning**: Language. Indications of gayness. (Oh yeah! I totally had to bring Jirayia up, the king of pervs xD)

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><p><strong>Unpredictable<strong>

As Shikamaru strolled away from Naruto's tent, he decided to take a shortcut over to Gaara's. The guy had told him to come over that morning and Shika suspected some fishy money business involved, so he preferred to get it over with quickly. Gaara liked to get into trouble with these kinds of things. Probably because he knew how it annoyed Shikamaru. But as much as he despised that fact sometimes, Shika had to admit that Gaara was vital for the circus' survival. He was the goose with the golden eggs. And not just in the metaphorical sense, so the rumours said. Not that Shika cared, of course. He was just happy there was money in the house. He didn't care whether it came from a middle-aged woman with a mid-life crisis or the Queen of England, as long as he could see it, feel it, and use it. Not for himself, naturally, it was all for those annoyingly high taxes for camping places and entertaining civilians. Oh the things he would do if he didn't have to spend all that cash for taxes and food… Shikamaru was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't realize two shadows on either side of him rush past towards the bright orange tent he'd left behind him. Even if he had, he couldn't have bothered less. He had more important stuff on his mind. Like imagining elderly women swooning over Gaara and picturing what they did to him. Who knew he could be such a pervert? He was going to take a nap right after telling Gaara off. The heat was suddenly so stifling, he only wished for a shadowy place to hide and sleep until everything just faded away into nothingness. On second thought, he was going to take a nap right now. So he lay down under a tree and dozed off comfortably in the shade.

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><p>Shadow number one started out as a grumpy brown-haired teenage boy fuming over another boy who had had the nerve to kiss the person he'd been crushing on for ages. Kiba wished he'd had time to punch the shit out of that guy before Shikamaru showed up. His fists still itched to beat up something; he hadn't known that he could be so violent at times.<p>

_For fucks sake, why did this have to happen in the first place?_ he grumbled to himself. It wasn't like things like this happened every time a new guy came along. This could only happen here, in this freaky place. Ugh, he hated this place so much sometimes! But then he'd usually cool off and be happy again, like always. But not this time. He was so pissed like he'd never been. That stupid Sasuke guy couldn't mind his own business. Who was he to walk around kissing people anyway? And especially on the first day. Really, there was no such thing as love at first sight. Okay there was. Kiba was the living proof for that.

He had first put it off as puppy love but as he grew older he learned that what he felt was pretty serious stuff. Also because he was a boy too, it had really confused him at first. Kids don't think of gender differences too much, but a teen sure does, and Kiba had one hell of a time trying to sort things out with himself.

Luckily there were people like Orochimaru to help with the troubles of the heart – he didn't ask questions, he just listened and gave answers. Though sometimes Kiba had the feeling those – surely well-meant – counsels weren't always very good; knocking out Naruto and hiding him in a basement wasn't Kiba's idea of a romantic relationship, to be honest. He guessed that it was Orochimaru's childhood friend Jirayia, whom nobody had ever seen but heard a lot about, that had a major influence on the old pervert's view of things. But he was being diverted from his actual problem: winning over Naruto and getting rid of Sasuke.

Suddenly an idea hit him. Why not set that idiot up? It wouldn't be hard to do that, after all he was new and nobody knew too much about his habits and character. Oh, he felt the evil flow through his body like sweet honey and he knew then that everything was going to turn out just fine. _Now off to Naruto's to get things straight_, he thought.

* * *

><p>Sasuke, aka shadow number two, watched two puppies wrestle around in a separate pen. They looked pretty stupid.<p>

In the next cage there was a giant yellow-and-black snake coiled up under a log of wood. It was a big snake – not just big, it was really big, with zigzagging stripes that kind of reminded him of a leopard's fur and empty grey eyes staring at him. The look in those eyes made him nervous; there was no light reflecting in them, and the pupils were so narrow that they were almost invisible. It was creepy. But just a bit.

All of a sudden the snake raised its head and seemed to sniff the air, almost like a dog picking up a trail. Then it shot forward towards Sasuke's face and hissed at him through the bars. _Holy fucking shi- _Sasuke jumped away in shock, his heart beating up in his throat. Okay, that was definitely creepier than expected. Now the snake tried to push through the iron bars that held it back – they were close together and kept it from squeezing through, but now that Sasuke thought of it, a snake of that size would have the strength to just bend those bars if it felt like. He made a few steps backwards subconsciously. Then, as suddenly as it had attacked, the snake recoiled back under its log again. Sasuke looked around, suddenly feeling observed.

"You look like you've pissed your pants, kid. Better watch out for Jiji here, he doesn't like to be disturbed. It was hard enough to teach him not to eat the hand that gave him food every day in the first place, but getting him to tolerate _gringos_? Please." Orochimaru smiled kindly down at the raven haired boy and watched him blush slightly. Sasuke started to wonder why the man randomly used Spanish words in his sentences instead of speaking normal Japanese; it was hard to understand. And then that awfully ironic name he gave his pet. For fucks sake, it was giant snake, not some fluffy cat.

"He's an Indonesian Diamond python. Beautiful isn't he? Such symmetry in the colouring…" Orochimaru lost himself in some fantasy about which Sasuke could only wonder – he assumed it was all about snakes, snakes, and snakes. Gross. So he just decided to leave the old oddball to his thoughts and headed on to the orange tent, though he realised he'd forgotten why he was going there. Not that it mattered of course, and he didn't have anything to do anyway so why not kill time by getting to know the cute blond b- Naruto better?

While he came nearer, he spotted Shikamaru walk down the grass. He didn't seem to notice Sasuke. _The all seem pretty dumb here, walking with their head in the clouds half the time_, he thought. That was when he noticed the Kiba. He was almost at the tent, just twenty meters away from where Sasuke was. This was bad. Not that he took the dog boy seriously, but he _did_ look like he could through a good punch and Sasuke wasn't exactly keen on finding out whether he was right. And he definitely didn't want that creep near Naruto again. So he started to sprint. There was no way he was going to lose against that guy. He ran past Shikamaru, who didn't even so much as look at him and caught up with Kiba, who jumped at his sight. A competitive glint appeared in his eyes. They ran, glancing at each other all the time to see who was faster. Both boys thought the same thing over and over again: _Fuck you. He's mine._

And then the world went bright orange.

**tbc…**

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><p><strong>AN:** So how was it? And yes, another cliffy. mwahahaha. *author gets lynched yet again* ...anyways I'll be going then... *author is dumped in a barrel of tar and gets covered with feathers from the pillows smashed on her head* *spits out feathers* Sowwy. I'll put up a new chappy soon, I promise!


	7. Knockout

**A/N: **Hey everybody, this time I uploaded fairly quickly, plus I've already started the next chapter! ;D and I know I end most of my chapters with cliffys, but hey, doesn't that make everything more exciting? lol Anyway enjoy my dear readers, on we gooo! yay!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. Not one bit. Sadly. Boohoo TT^TT

**Warning**: The following chapter contains squashed boobs and yaoi (BoyxBoy) fantasies. Don't like, don't read, savvy?

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><p><strong>Knockout<strong>

When Kiba opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was a pair of gigantic boobs hovering over him. _Ohh hell yeah, boobies. _He reached out and grabbed one of them. It felt soft and warm and… "Kiba! What the fuck are you thinking, groping me like that?" A hand slapped clean over his cheek, and he felt something soften the blow – he guessed it was a plaster. But it hurt anyway. _Wait… So this isn't a dream? Cool, because those were pretty fucking big boo-_

"KIBA! You're having a _nosebleed_! You lousy pervert… God this is unbelievable. Sakura-chan, give him an overdose. Just… do anything to cause him pain, please. …Kiba, for the last time, _DON'T TOUCH_!"

The screech at the end of that last sentence catapulted him back to reality. _Oh shit. _It was Tsunade._ Wait… so those soft mushy things… they were hers? _Kiba's eyes snapped open. He sat up with a gasp and landed face-forward in a soft mass of boobs again. He knew what was going to come next.

"KIIBAAA!"

Sakura flinched as Tsunade punched Kiba, making him fall back into his pillows, knocked out completely. Ino made a face but seemed to enjoy the sight. Her sister could never understand how Ino could like this sort of stuff; she seemed to live for boxing matches and street fights – though only as a spectator, not as an actual participant, of course. Of course, though sometimes it was hard to believe that when her arms always had some kind of bandage or plaster on them. _Spectator my ass_, Sakura thought. She new damn well that her sister had a sick tendency to violence, but for some reason nobody knew – or rather: _wanted_ to know – because all they saw was a curvy blonde acrobat with a cute smile. Ugh, it made her sick.

* * *

><p>Sasuke blinked, slowly getting used to the bright light shining at him. There was someone next to him, watching him. He didn't really see them, though; it was more like he could feel their presence, whoever they were. And then that person pounced. A warm tongue started lapping his face fiercely and he felt a dead weight crush his ribs. He winced. The lapping stopped, and he opened his eyes properly. The grinning face of a black-and-yellow puppy gawked back at him. It looked almost cute, but in Sasuke's eyes, it was just plain goofy.<p>

"Agh, get off me, you stupid thing", he mumbled, but the puppy stayed where it was, sitting on his chest and grinning sheepishly. "Such a nuisance." He pushed the dog off himself and winced again, a sharp pain piercing his left cheek. When he reached up, he felt a thick plaster-thing cover his cheek. Now that he was aware of it, he could feel his blood pulse through it. What had happened? He sat up and squinted, trying to remember, and regretted it immediately, as his cheek started hurting again. The puppy hopped onto his lap, and Sasuke started stroking it absent-mindedly. Then he remembered. Or at least, he thought he remembered – it wasn't an actual memory in the first place. Just a haze of orange… and… grey? Metal-ish grey…

And then Sasuke realized. It made him want to do a face palm but he thought better of it. _Oh God. Oh fuck. This is so stupid. I made an idiot out of myself._ This was bad. Very bad. Especially for the image of a composed, earnest Sasuke.

"Uhm. If you've finished frowning and mumbling around randomly…"

Sasuke almost fell out of his bed in fright. He hadn't realized there was someone with him. He turned to face the speaker and his eyes fell on a red-haired, Goth-like person. He wasn't sure but he thought he recalled vaguely that he was called Gary or something. _No, not Gary – that sounds dumb_. _Oh yeah, Gaara_. That was pretty dumb too, actually. He smirked. It must have looked pretty random, because Gaara lifted an eyebrow questioningly. Sasuke decided to just shrug it off.

"So…?" If the redhead wanted something, he should say it and not just sit around and do nothing. He had other stuff to do after all. Okay he didn't, but still -

"Hinatatoldme thatShikatoldher totellmeto tellyouthat youandKibaare bannedfrom comingneareachother becauseyoutwoseemto causetroubleeverytime you'retogetherand ohyeahlunchisready."

Sasuke blinked.

"Uh, what?"

Gaara sighed. He looked exasperated. Sasuke wondered whether he always talked so fast or if it was because he rarely spoke and wanted to finish as soon as possible. The red haired boy lifted his head and glared at Sasuke, eyes filled with contempt. He looked like a completely different person now, sure of himself and not a bit shy or nervous.

"No contact to Kiba. Starting now. Lunch is ready, so get your arse moving."

"Hn." So it was probably the latter. Gaara was a kind of mild sociopath. At least he had understood what he'd been told this time. Not that it mattered.

Gaara sighed with relief when he finally left that stuck up fart back in his tent. He didn't like him, not in the least. He was like some kind of itch that kept annoying the shit out of him whenever he saw him. He wasn't surprised that Kiba didn't like him.

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><p>During lunch, everyone kept looking at Sasuke and then at Kiba, who sat in a place the furthest away from the raven. They just kept shifting their eyes from one to the other, as if something was going to happen. Like Kiba's head exploding. <em>Wouldn't be so bad, actually<em>, Sasuke mused. _Though the mess would be problematic… _oh he could be so awful at times. _Mwahaha._

He must have been smirking again, he realized, because Ino had dropped her spoon into her stew and was staring – no, gaping – openly at him, while Sakura was attempting to nudge her but failed and landed with her elbow in her sister's stew. She didn't seem to notice, though. He sent them a death glare, just to see how they'd react. It had immediate effect. They both flinched and Sakura started fretting over her elbow, while Ino just put away her plate, disgusted. Shikamaru, who sat next to Sakura, just sneered and went back to picking at his own plate in a very much unmotivated fashion – Sasuke noticed that he looked a bit ruffled, as if he'd just gotten out of bed. And then he noticed Gaara's gaze. He was looking at Sakura with such hunger in his eyes that Sasuke could only shudder. This was worse than just undressing somebody with one's eyes. Gaara was almost _devouring_ her. It was pretty disturbing.

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><p>After lunch everyone went their way, either to practice whatever had to be practiced or – in Shikamaru's case – to visit people. He'd overslept under that blasted tree so he had had to go directly for lunch without talking to that guy. So he guessed he could just as well do it now. And after all, why not? It wasn't like Gaara had anything to do anyway. Except banging old women, how could he have forgotten that? He wondered if it was as bad as it sounded. Older women weren't exactly his idea of fun when it came to it. What a real guy needed was some young hot stuff, nice and firm, but not too flat. Hell yeah. But on the other hand he couldn't picture Gaara nailing younger girls. It didn't look right. Neither did the picture of him having sex with an older woman look too good. Suddenly he flinched as he became aware of where his thoughts were going to. He didn't like it when it happened, but he couldn't really help himself. Some way or another, his thoughts would always go astray from the actual subject and he'd land in this position. He gritted his teeth. It was so confusing at times. He didn't know what exactly to think of the whole thing. It could become pretty damn annoying; he didn't like it when he wasn't in control of things properly. He blushed as the image of a naked Gaara came up again, but then shook his head violently, hoping that the image would go away.<p>

"Having fantasies about a certain someone again?"

Shikamaru felt like his heart had leaped up to his throat and then plummeted back down in to his guts in a split second.

"Holy mother of... You almost gave me a heart attack right now, you know? Ever tried walking up to people and then talk to them while facing them like a normal human being for once?"

Orochimaru grinned and shrugged awkwardly, feeling somewhat guilty. It was just in his nature to loom out of nowhere and scare people out of their wits, but he didn't do it on purpose since he couldn't really help it.

"Sorry. You looked like you were thing of him again, so I just wanted to make sure. One day you'll have to tell him, you know."

Shikamaru tried to laugh it off, but the laugh got stuck in his throat and refused to come out. He'd thought of that so many times, imagined all of the possible scenarios, and every time it came out the same way: The end of their so-called friendship and Gaara looking at him weirdly every time he saw him because he knew what was going on in Shika's head. There was no way he was ever going to tell.

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><p><strong>AN:** Okeydokey so much for this chapter. This time it didn't end with a cliffhanger, so I hope you can sleep in peace now, _Sukaretto Miyuki_!^^ I'll try to upload the next chapter tomorrow, which I usually never do, but I have a good reason - I'm going to a camp next week and won't have any internet connection there, so if I have time I'll write a bit in my free time and then copy and upload the stuff after the camp. So yeah, I'll just go and work my fingers off all night so that I can go to camp with a clear conscience ;P Byeee!

-Sonya


	8. Visitor

**A/N: **I am so so so sorry for not uploading like I promised! I haven't been sleeping at all this entire week because I had a school theater going on, it was great and we got lots of positive feedback but I'm so dead I can barely keep my eyes open. But since I'll be gone for two weeks now, I decided to upload this chappy after all. It's long, so I hope it'll make up for the long wait... Oh and if it doesn't make much sense, please tell me, I'll correct it as soon as possible. This was written by a very tired, very confused me, so bear with me, okay? ^^"

**Warning**: This chapter contains mild Yaoi (BoyxBoy). Don't like, don't read. It's simple. Oh and language, I think.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. *sniff*

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><p><strong>Visitor<strong>

Naruto stared at his game boy. The little screen said GAME OVER in big blinking letters that seemed to be making fun of him. He just couldn't concentrate. Stupid idiot friends, punching each other in his tent. Okay, it was Kiba's tent too. And Shika's. But that didn't matter right now. The blond pouted. It was so unfair! He was confused again, and all because of that dumb old uncle. He shouldn't have gone to him in the first place. There was no way that plan would… But, on the other hand, Sasuke looked funny _then_. Naruto grinned broadly at the memory. Oh, it would be so much fun taunting Kiba and Sasuke with _that_.

* * *

><p>When Orochimaru looked up to see who had barged into his territory so early in the afternoon, he was surprised to see Naruto standing in front of him, of all people.<p>

"Shouldn't you be in bed, resting?" He asked sternly. Naruto pouted, and Orochimaru sighed. This was no time to discuss Naruto's swollen foot and bandaged arm, so he motioned the boy to sit down on one of the pillows lying around his tent. He seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say. Orochimaru had a go at it himself.

"So, what is it? I'm sure you haven't come here to small talk... You look troubled, kiddo, what's up?"

"Uhm… it's about Kiba. And… stuff."

"…Oh? And?" Orochimaru had an idea about which way this conversation was about to go. He just hoped the poor schmuck hadn't screwed up big time, after all the good advice he had given him. Surely it wasn't that hard, being nice to the little pup and winning him over that way.

"Uhm, he, uhm, k-" Naruto faltered.

"Yes?" Orochimaru asked curiously. _K-what? Kicked (his ass)? Caressed (oh-my-god-I-don't-want-to-know-what)? Crossed (the line)? Or…K-k-kissed? _Even he stuttered at that word, he realized.

"He k-"

Now Orochimaru was getting really nervous. "Oh come on now, kid, just spit it out!"

"He kissed me." Naruto went from crimson red to paper white so quickly that Orochimaru could only wonder. _Oh dear_. _He did it._

"Kiba kissed you?" He got up so quickly that Naruto jumped on his cushion.

"Wha-? No, Sasuke!"

Now Orochimaru didn't understand anything anymore. He stared blankly at the blond, not knowing what to say. The other stared back at him, eyes wide with surprise. He seemed to be processing what he had just said, just like Orochimaru. For god's sake, that child really made him mad with his slow thinking. Seriously, had he only noticed the meaning of the whole thing _now_? He restrained himself from hitting the boy's back of the head for such dumbness.

"Okay. Hold on a second. So Sasuke kissed you, or did Kiba do it?" Naruto blushed again. Orochimaru held his breath. In all these years, he didn't think he'd live up to a moment when he knew what the answer to his question would be but at the same time didn't want to know it at all. _Please, God, prove me wrong, or I'll seriously..._

"… … …Both", came the timid answer. _…lose my mind. Okay, that's it. I'm lost. _

"Ojii-chan, I don't know what to do! They both kissed me but I like them both too, I mean I've known Kiba for ages and ages, but you know, Sasuke, he's kind of special too, I don't know how to say it, but really I think I like him as much as Kiba and now I don't know what to do, because I mean why would I even have to chose between them, can't we just stay friends, I don't understand the world anymore, and then they started punching each other, why would they do that, was it because of me or because Kiba called Sasuke an orphan, oh my God I don't know what should I do Ojii-chan? And my heart keeps beating so, so fast each time they're with me now!"

Orochimaru took a deep, deep breath before answering. This needed careful planning and formulating. He was so absorbed with thinking that he didn't even bother to correct Naruto saying "Ojii-chan".

"Okay kid. This is the plan…"

* * *

><p>By the time he'd conjured up enough courage to go to Naruto again, it was almost dinner-time. The sun was already beginning to set behind the hilltop and the first crickets were singing in the grass. Sasuke decided that this time, he wasn't going to be hindered by anything. Anything at all. No competitive idiots, and definitely no tents. He bit his lip at the memory. It must have looked so stupid.<p>

When he actually entered Naruto's tent, he was almost surprised. There was no-one there except Naruto himself, who was playing on his game boy with one hand – and, by the looks of it, managing it very well – and he hadn't met anyone on the way. This was almost too good to be true. He had had the feeling that somehow everything was trying to prevent him from coming here for some reason.

He cleared his throat noisily, making the blond jump. He looked up quickly, and when he saw Sasuke, he jumped again.

"Ah! O-oh, hi. Um, sorry, I didn't see you there." He looked down, not knowing what to say. _Well this is awkward_, Sasuke thought irritably. He was just contemplating the chances of escape when to his surprise, Naruto spoke up again.

„So… I, uh, heard you had an accident. You okay?" He eyed the raven's cheek suspiciously. It looked pretty painful. The other scoffed angrily and looked away, but Naruto could have sworn that he'd gone red in the face.

"N-nothing big. Just a little scratch. I don't know why everyone is making such a fuss about it", Sasuke blurted. Naruto sniggered. _Well, at least someone's having fun_, Sasuke thought.

"Uhuh. If you think to grown guys running face-on into my tent is nothing big. I think it was pretty funny, actually, especially your face when you saw Kiba stuck between the two metal bars and then Kiba's face when he saw the mud on you face that made you look like the Phantom of the Op-"

"Oh shut up!" Yep, that was definitely a deep red face Naruto could see there. Everything was working perfectly.

"But it really was funny, you know, I wish I had made some photos, it would have-"

"Shut up!" So it was possible for him to grow even redder… _Okay, now for the final blow before…_

"It would have been a great memory later on. Oh come on, admit it, it was pretty damn fun-mmph!" _Okay, this isn't according to my plan. Wah wah wah what do I do? He looks so scary..._

Sasuke had thrown himself onto Naruto's bed furiously and clamped the boy's mouth shut. He had had enough. He was beginning to regret that he had come here, but on the other hand it was good to see such a cute grinning face for once. Now that he thought of it, Naruto's eyelashes were really long when seen from this close. Woah, his eyes were so _blue_. Bluer then he had ever seen anything to be. They made him randomly think of a summer day, for some reason. He took away his hand from Naruto's lips, and realized that Naruto wasn't even fighting him or anything. He was just looking at him with those, big, blue, teary eyes… Suddenly Sasuke heard the breaks screech in his head. _Wait a moment… why were his eyes teary? _He leant back and watched as Naruto started whimpering. Then those whimpers turned into sobs and finally Naruto bawled like a baby. Sasuke sat, rooted and petrified, not knowing what to do. Why was that stupid kid crying? It didn't make any sense. It made him feel really uneasy.

"O-Oi, oi, why are you crying, stupid?" Naruto cried even louder.

"Hey! Okay, I'm sorry I called you stupid. Okay? Stop crying… Jeez, you're so loud. Come on stop crying. Stop crying." He began reluctantly patting Naruto's head and slid nearer to him. Finally he put an arm around the blonde's shaking body and hugged him lightly. He felt himself blushing again.

"There, there. Now stop crying. You're making yourself look like a cry-baby." At that Naruto shouted and made Sasuke jump almost a foot in the air.

"I don't care! You're so mean! You scared me! Why would you jump at me like tha-a -a-t…" He drew a shuddering breath and looked at Sasuke fiercely. "_Stupid_ _baka_!" Again he bawled and, contradicting himself, hid his face in Sasuke's shirt, soaking it in seconds. The other boy just sat there in shock, not knowing what on earth was going on or what to do in such a situation. So he just sat there, one half of him wanting to run away, the other half enjoying the cute blond bo- _Naruto_ leaning on him, though the crying did make the whole thing a bit less enjoyable than it could have been.

Finally – finally! – after what seemed an eternity, Naruto calmed down and stopped crying. Sasuke wanted to move away, but the blond clung onto him, so he gave up almost immediately. _Anything for the cute one_, he smirked. Then Naruto started mumbling something.

"Hm? What?"

"…You're a big baka."

"Um. Thank you."

"No, you don't understand. You're a big big baka. Ruining everything."

"Uhuh."

Naruto sat up and glared at Sasuke. This baka wouldn't understand. Meh, stupid idiot. That idiot made him so confused. And why was his heart beating so fast? At least that part of the plan has worked out well. Maybe it was because he had cried so much. Within five minutes, he was fast asleep.

Sasuke looked at the blonde's sleeping face and smirked to himself. He didn't know what to think of what had just happened, but Naruto's sleeping face was definitely something worth getting used to. Though he looked a bit retarded in a way, sucking his thumb like that… He covered Naruto with his blanket and quietly went out of the tent, almost bumping into a yawning Shikamaru, who looked a bit depressed, but he didn't see him. It was pretty dark and he had a bit of trouble finding his tent, but when he finally lay on his bed, he realized he was still grinning a bit. He slapped himself inwardly. This was so unlike himself, smiling around randomly. _Hn_.

* * *

><p>Kiba snuck into the orange tent silently. It was pitch black outside, but he knew his way around the area, so there was no problem except that stupid root he'd tripped over. He noticed that there was a dim light on in the tent, and he smiled tenderly. It seemed like Naruto still couldn't sleep in the dark, after all those years. He leant over the boy, touching one of his soft cheeks. He was just about to kiss the blonde's forehead when somewhere on the right Shikamaru snored loudly and turned around in his sleep. Trying not to wake them up, Kiba tiptoed to his own bed and snuggled up under his covers. Then he gazed dreamily at Naruto's face until he too fell asleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Shikamaru knew it wasn't fair if he pretended to be fast asleep, but it was necessary, he justified himself. Finally he was getting a rough picture of what was going on. He hadn't gone to speak to Gaara after all, thanks to a nosy old fool, and turned around and walked away. Then he'd spent the rest of the afternoon pondering about things on the branch of a tree he'd found near the hill where Temari would practice. In the end, he'd just given up and gone back to the tent. And now, he'd seen Kiba almost… well, he'd seen it. And it made things so much clearer. And yet, for some reason, he couldn't help feeling that he'd forgotten something – something important that would make the puzzle complete. But what was it? Shikamaru rolled over again and decided that this would have to wait until tomorrow. He was damn tired. Before he drifted away into uneasy dreams, he thought of that shadow that had passed him while he was walking towards his tent. He had a hunch that it was important. But sleeping was definitely more important now.<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** Whew. that's it for now. Omg what will happen next? I don't even know myself xD This is totally written during momentary inspirational enlightenment. Seriously. I mean, I have a rough story-line, but yeah, most of it is just plain gibberish written down and accepted as readable by me ^-^ I hope you liked the chapter, please review and stuff!

**IMPORTANT: **To make up for the long wait, I've also uploaded a new story, _Revolver_. Check it out.  
>And don't kill me for being a terrible writer and not uploading on time when I promise to. Pwwease don't.<p> 


	9. Freaks

**A/N:** Yay I'm back after ages of not writing! Oooh there will be some new side plots and things coming up in this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy...

**Warning: **Language and a bit of smut (finally)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. But I own Ino's character in this story. Oh yeah. She's all mine, warped mind and all...

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><p><strong>Freaks<strong>

A mild breeze blew through the fields and a blade of grass tickled his forearm. Kiba bit his lip and held his breath, trying to resist the urge to scratch himself. In front of him something rustled quietly, betraying the presence of something else except the brown haired boy in the otherwise quiet meadow. He crouched down even lower in the high grass without making any noise. All his senses were sharp. He could smell the faint odour of pooped carrots coming from where he had heard the noise. It was now or never. He lunged.

The rabbit wiggled about in his arms, trying to escape, but he held onto it tightly. This little fellow wasn't going to go anywhere. After over an hour of lurking and waiting he'd finally been able to catch the damn thing. His muscles ached from the effort and he could feel his skin burn in the afternoon sun. Kiba looked at his catch closely. The rabbit was pretty small, brown and had a cute black patch on one front paw and a white one on the other. It looked back at him reproachfully. _Let go, or I'll bite you_, it seemed to be saying. Kiba laughed meanly. "Naw, I'm not letting you go, little rascal. I'm taking you straight back to Sakura and then she'll make pulp out of you." The rabbit started kicking frantically again, but Kiba didn't care. Man, he was hungry. Luckily lunch was soon.

"Flopsy! There you are, sweetie! Aw, did you miss your mommy? Come here, smoochiepoochie, yeah I love you too…" Sakura hugged her rabbit, almost crushing it in her arms. Kiba flinched when he saw the poor animal's eyes almost pop out. He was beginning to think that Flopsy was better off in the wild than with that girl. She was going to strangle that thing one day. On the other hand Sakura would have cried her eyes out if little Flopsy were gone, which was why she had forced Kiba under death threats to look for the damn rodent for so long. He trudged away, not expecting any attention anymore from Sakura's side.

While he crossed the country road that lay just behind the circus' camping site and walked back towards the open fields next to the road, he started pondering about more serious stuff. There had to be a way of getting rid of that Sasuke guy, right? Only how could he do it…

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><p>Gaara stared at the rabbit in its cage while it hopped about miserably. <em>So Kiba managed to catch you again, huh?<em> He had wondered whether it was the right thing to do when he had opened the cage. Freeing a pet wasn't necessarily a good thing, even if that pet was being squeezed and squashed twice a day for its cuteness, and by Sakura of all people. She had some strength, only she didn't realize it, and hurt her pet instead. Gaara noticed that the rabbit was only hopping on three legs. The fourth was pulled up against its body in a painful cramp. _Not again_, he thought. He picked up the bunny and massaged its leg softly, releasing the cramp. And got scratched in the process. He chuckled darkly and put the animal back into its cage. "Well if that's your way of saying thanks, you're welcome, little one."

"So the sociopath has a warm side to him after all, huh?" Ino strutted up to him with a smug smile on her face. "I hadn't expected that."

Gaara frowned. "Ino. What're you doing here." It wasn't exactly a question. It was more like a statement that expressed his confusion. He had a unique way of communicating, Ino thought to herself. That was one of the things that made him so damn hot. Oh, she wanted to crush him. She wanted to make him plead and moan and… she quickly stopped herself before losing control entirely. This was not the time. Not now. Not yet. Or not anymore…

"Still so attached to animals? That reminds me, what happened to your desert cat? Did it leave you all alone?" She cooed. Gaara's fists tightened and he eyed her with malice. Ino licked her lips. He knew it was her. She had never denied it, but then again nobody had blamed her. _It must have been an accident_, everyone had said. But Gaara had always known that she had killed it. It made her shiver with excitement when she saw how he battled with himself. He was suffering. It turned her on. How absolutely beautiful he was.

One night, he had confronted her in her tent while Sakura was sleeping over at Hinata's place after a fight between them. He had asked her why she had done it. She had just laughed and then looked in his eyes for a long, long time. And then they had started kissing, and he had pounced on her with a fury that she had never seen before and he had bitten her and she had scratched him, leaving deep wounds on his back. And then they had had sex. Violent, heartless, painful… delicious. Ino knew that because of that night, Gaara would never betray her. Nobody would ever know it had been her. Or else everybody would know what Gaara had done to her, with her. Because she shared the same blood as Sakura. It must have been plain torture to fuck his crush's twin sister. But it was a good fuck. She giggled and took a step towards him; he didn't back away. He just closed his eyes, clenching and unclenching his jaws. Ino traced her fingers down his stomach and stopped right above his belt. Then she leant forward and bit his lip.

"You know you want me."

He shivered under her touch but refused to answer. Ino let go of his collar and walked off, biting her thumb to focus. Mmm, his hatred was _so_ sexy.

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><p>Naruto examined the fingernail on his left thumb as thoroughly as possible before looking up at his opposite. Everything seemed to be so important if it was going to delay the conversation that was going to follow for at least a minute. Finally he looked up and gazed at Shikamaru, who was sitting on his bed which was next to Naruto's. The silence was making him nervous, and Shikamaru's stare wasn't making things any better. He had said that there was something to talk about, but he hadn't said what and until now, he had been sitting and staring at Naruto, deep in thought. Now he had cleared his throat meaningfully. Did he expect Naruto to say something first?<p>

"Um", Naruto said intelligently.

"Yeah", Shikamaru said wisely.

"So", Naruto started.

"So", Shikamaru agreed.

"Um", Naruto said again.

"Kiba likes you, doesn't he", Shikamaru said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

"And you?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He looked surprised at the question. He had probably thought that Shikamaru would make fun of him or even scorn him for being… different (or, as Temari liked to call it, a freak), but what did he know about what went on in Shika's mind? There were so many secrets, even Shika himself was sometimes surprised.

"Um", the blond started reluctantly, "I… don't know. I mean I like him, but… but not… you know, the same way. Especially because of-" he stopped abruptly and blushed, looking away. Shikamaru watched as Naruto fumbled around with the hem of his shirt nervously and waited for him to continue. But he didn't.

"Especially because of…?" he prodded the boy on gently.

"Because of…" He sighed. "Never mind. It's not that important."

"You're not sure about your feelings?" Shikamaru smiled weakly and looked at a spot on the floor absently. "Oh well, then there's the two of us." He noticed Naruto perk up and lean forward for more information and changed his mind. He leaned back onto his pillows and closed his eyes. "Ah, such a drag. It's so tiresome to fret about things like this." Naruto pouted. "Oi, no fair, tell me who it is!" Shikamaru turned over with his back to the nosy blond. "Never mind. It's not that important." – "Hey, don't use my line, i~diot." Naruto leaned forward further and punched his friend playfully in the shoulder before rolling over in his bed too and playing a round of Pokémon on his game boy.

Outside, a returning Kiba overheard the last bit of conversation inside the tent… and felt his heart get a small crack. At the same time hatred filled him as he thought of the only person who could have diverted Naruto's feelings from him. He had to act fast, before things got even worse.

* * *

><p>Ino squinted against the sun. Sasuke was crouching in front of the dog pen, watching one of the puppies chase its tail. He looked at ease. It didn't look good. It didn't make her feel good. She wanted to see his face contort in agony. He mere thought of it made her lick her lips in excitement. Time to act…<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** And... did you like it? Please review and/or comment, it really helps me and it's really motivating. Thank you to all my reviewers, in the past and future ;) Stay tuned!


	10. Teamwork

**A/N:** Sorry for not writing so long. As an apology, I've uploaded 4 new chapters for this story and two for Revolver, so please don't kill me. And I wanted to say thank you to all my subscribers! Thanks for faving and liking and and and... and of course thank you to all my reviewers! It means a lot to me, though I know I'm too lazy to deserve it ;P  
>And now for a short notice:<p>

Okay let's just make this clear for everybody: Naruto is not gay. Yet. At least he doesn't realize it. He's just a very childish, very emotional teen who doesn't understand a lot of things despite his age. This might seem cliché to the most of you since it makes him seem like one of those shoujo-manga girls who are completely clueless about love or at least oblivious to their feelings/other people's feelings. But believe me I've tried lots of different personalities for him and they just didn't fit in with the story so I decided to stick with the girly, innocent type. Get used to it, he's not going to change any time soon, not until he grows up a bit.

*author gets beaten up by an angry Naruto ("How dare you make me so girly? Now, Sasuke makes fun of me all the time!")* Sorry, Naru-chan. It'll get better.

And another thing: I deeply apologize for any typos in my stories. I try my best to re-read the text and find any mistakes because my Word-program has a bug and doesn't always correct/underline my mistakes, but I'm sure I've been keeping grammar mistakes and typos to a minimum.

**Warning:** Language, sexual implications

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. Meh.

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><p><strong>Teamwork<strong>

Sasuke gazed at the black-and-yellow puppy stumbling around the dog pen clumsily. It looked as dumb as it had when he'd woken up with it on his chest the other day. He had brought it back to the pen immediately after Gaara was gone, but somehow that goofy animal had stayed on his mind, so he'd decided to visit it. He felt a bit stupid doing so, though. It wasn't like him at all. First that blond crybaby – seriously why would he start randomly crying like that? – and now a puppy. And on top of it, an ugly puppy with no brains whatsoever.

"Oi, what are you doing, chasing your tail like that? You'll never manage to catch it, you stupid thing", he mumbled and stuck a finger through the wire that surrounded the pen. The puppy trotted up to him and started sniffing his finger. Its whiskers tickled him. A twig snapped next to him and he looked up. The blond girl smiled at him brightly and pointed at the puppy.

"You like dogs, huh? They're Kiba's, so you'd better not have any hopes about getting one. He hates you, you know." She smiled again. "I wonder why."

"Hn."Sasuke looked back at the puppy again. That girl was annoying; he wanted her to go away.

Ino chuckled. "Watch out so you don't talk too much."

"Hn." _What does she want from me_, Sasuke asked himself irritably.

"Hmm. Let me guess what you did." Ino put a finger on her chin, pretending to think hard. "Oh! I know. Ever since you've come here, you've been looking at Blondie aaall the time. Do you like him?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Ino frowned a bit. _Insolent brat._

"Well, let me tell you that Kiba won't give up quickly. You might only be here since a few days, but believe me, in this place it's the survival of the fittest all the way through."

Still no answer. She squatted down next to Sasuke and bent towards him, careful to do it in a way that made her breasts show in her low-cut tank top. He ignored her, and that made her fume inside. Why didn't he so much as look at her? She wasn't ugly. In fact, she was rather pretty. There had to be some way to make this boy hers. She wanted him to want her so bad that it would tear him up inside. Ino brushed a strand of hair out of Sasuke's face before continuing. He didn't move away. _A good sign_, she thought.

"I'll tell you what. You look bored. Let me take your thoughts off that kid and show you something good for a change, huh?"

"Do you always try to seduce boys whom you've just met? Pretty cheap, don't you think? Besides, you're ugly." Sasuke stood up and turned to go. "Never touch me again."

Ino's knees gave way and she sat down, dumbfounded. There was no such thing as a guy dumping her. There. Was. No. Such. Thing. She felt her anger burn like acid in her stomach.

_One deep breath, two deep breaths..._ On the other hand she loved the challenge. She giggled lightly and stood up, wiping some grass off her shorts. Oh, this was going to be so much fun!

* * *

><p>Gaara trudged to his tent in a sour mood. Why did <em>she<em> have to turn up near him all the time? He hated seeing her smug smile, those soft lips that had kissed him so roughly, he hated remembering her sweet taste mixed with blood from his bitten lip… He hated everything about her, and she knew it. She knew it and she loved it, because she also knew that she could control him. He didn't love her. He didn't even really _like_ her, for that matter. No, this was something different. It was like all his anger and hatred would mutate into one big mountain of frustrated desire. He couldn't explain it. The more he hated her, the more he wanted to fuck her. Simple, and yet so terribly complicated.

On the way he passed the dog pen and noticed the black-and-yellow puppy. So that Sasuke guy had put it back again. He had thought that it could have been a nice change in the other boy's life – a bit of verve in the boring daily routine. Or so it would have seemed. Gaara looked up at the clear sky, lost in thought, reminiscing the evening before.

Behind one of the vans surrounding the tents he had spotted Hinata leaning against a tree. She had seemed to be talking to someone. It was unusual for Hinata to be outside her tent except during meals, and even more unusual for her to talk with somebody. She wasn't exactly what one could call talkative. As Gaara had edged nearer he had overheard a part of the conversation. The other person had been Shikamaru. He had sounded worried. Another unusual thing.

"…you can't be serious. I mean, how can you _not_ see his future? You can see mine, can't you? Then what's the problem with his? It's not like he's some kind of ghost or something. Moreover, I think it has something to do with Naruto. He won't talk, but I have a feeling that they are connected in more ways than just those which we see. Just think of that time when he and Kiba ran into the tent – why were they running in the first place? What was going on then? You can see Kiba's and Naruto's fate, so just look into theirs and check."

"I-it's not that simple. As soon as I try to see something, everything becomes hazy and muffled… It's like his mere presence is affecting the future of everybody. But… But why? What is it that makes him so special? And then… there's this… _foreboding_ I have. I'm sure it's nothing much, but it's as if s-something bad is going to happen to him. Or maybe he'll be the source of that evil. Oh, I don't know! I… I just wish could put my finger on it…" She wrung her hands.

"What do you suggest? There must be something you know, right?" _Ah, that's the boss I know_, Gaara had thought. _Always thinking about everything… too much, sometimes._

"We can't let Sasuke be exposed to any evil. No more quarrels, no more fights. I can't tell you more. But we must, by all means, prevent any bad aura from breaking loose. No matter who the source is. But for the time being, let's focus on sparing Sasuke if it's about strong emotions. Keep him at bay. The last thing that I- that _we_ want is for his past to be brought back to him again."

Shikamaru had nodded and gone away. Gaara had pressed himself against the van, afraid of being noticed.

"Gaara. You can come out now." _Shit_, Gaara had thought. _Of course she knows._

Hinata had smiled at him shyly, and touched his arm gently.

"Please, take care of him", she had said, nodding over to Shikamaru. Or was it Sasuke's tent she was pointing out to him? _Either way_, he'd thought, _I'll do my best._ Hinata never asked for anything. So if Hinata asked somebody for something, it usually meant that it was important. So Gaara had decided to help her as much as he could - firstly because he was fond of the blind girl, and secondly because he had nothing much to do these days. Of course only the second reason was official. Of course.

Gaara blinked and shook his head. Giving the stranger a puppy wasn't exactly doing his best. But what was he supposed to do, make friends? No way.

* * *

><p>Ino tapped Kiba on the shoulder irritably. She had made such a racket coming over to him that it was a miracle that he hadn't heard her. He turned around and grinned, but his grin quickly turned upside down when he saw who was standing in front of him. Obviously he had been expecting someone else. And obviously he didn't really like Ino. But that wasn't important. She didn't like him either, really, but they both didn't like Blondie and the new guy being together. So there: a common cause makes people accomplices, doesn't it?<p>

"Listen up, dog boy", Ino started, smiling smugly when Kiba flinched at the nickname. "I want the new guy."

Kiba lifted an eyebrow. After all, it was a pretty random thing to say. "And so? It's not like I'm interested in your love life."

Ino smiled sweetly. "Nope, but you're interested in getting Blondie, aren't you?" She waited for the meaning of her words to sink in. Kiba's facial expression changed from irritated to mildly surprised. Yup, he understood.

"So… you want me to help you to get your guy and you help me get mine." Kiba eyed her suspiciously. "Where's the snag?"

"No snag, only profit", Ino reassured him, still smiling. Her smile made Kiba shiver; it was so real and yet so… fake that it made the whole thing creepy. She seemed to emit this… evil aura from behind the pretty façade. He wondered why he'd only noticed it now. _No wonder Hinata can't stand to be near her_.

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><p><strong>AN: **Oh, Ino is sooo evil! xD *tears up* ah, my dark and evil creation is purrrfect! *sniffs and wipes tears away* Now, go and read the next chapter! Hurry!


	11. Doubts

**A/N:** In this chapter I'll be switching perspectives and scenes quite a lot, so brace yourselves. But it's all for a purpose, otherwise I wouldn't do it. You'll understand later. And yes, I've made Kiba a bit nicer. I mean, he's just jealous, but deep down, he's a good guy. And we get to hear more about Shika! Yaaay!

**Warning:** Language, (homo-)sexual implications, fantasies about Gaara (oh yes!)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. Sadly.

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><p><strong>Doubts<strong>

Naruto bent his arm and moved his fingers cautiously. Tsunade watched him with anxious eyes, waiting. He smiled.

"Yup, it's fine. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Tsunade sighed in relief. "Good. But be sure not to burden it too much in the next week or so."

"Sure thing, Auntie." That earned him a smack over the back of his head.

"Nu-uh, I'm no auntie of yours, young man. Now go, I have things to do."

"Yeah, yeah. Bye, _Auntie_." He ducked just in time to avoid the packet of plasters aiming for his head and ran back to his tent. There, he took his game boy and strolled over to his favourite tree.

Despite the fact that he'd fallen from it, it was still his one-and-only-best-friend-tree. He'd just have to be more careful, that's all. No problem

But there was already somebody in it. Naruto spotted a lonely leg dangling from one of the branches. It was pale and sleek. Only two persons he knew had such pale skin, and one was Hinata. The second one was… _Sasuke?_, Naruto thought. _What's he doing up there?_

Suddenly his head perked up. He had an idea. Grinning deviously, he crept around the tree silently and started climbing it from the other side. When he was on the same height as Sasuke, he ducked. The raven was reading in a small book and seemed so distracted by it that he hadn't heard Naruto climb up. Maybe he thought it had been a squirrel of some sort. _At the count of three… two… one… _

"Booh!" Naruto bellowed.

Sasuke jumped, cursed and almost fell off his branch. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. But he regained control over himself and looked at Naruto furiously.

"You, are you out of your mind? I could've died if I'd fallen down! Jesus, what a moron", he added when he saw Naruto grin sheepishly, all happy and proud of his success. He turned around and continued reading, but the blond boy could see a tinge of red in his ears. This was fun. He sniggered quietly. Sasuke spun around.

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate."

Naruto covered his mouth to stifle his laughter but only managed to reduce it to gagging noises. Sasuke rolled his eyes exasperatedly. He was beginning to seriously wonder why he thought the guy was cute, let alone attractive. He was just plain stupid. _Just like that puppy,_ he realized. And he'd grown fond of the pup, too. _Ah, this can't be happening! _He was falling for the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. What a nuisance.

* * *

><p>In Hinata's tent, the girl paced up and down nervously. She hadn't had any breakfast, and she didn't feel like having lunch, either. There was nothing to do since the next circus show was a month or so away, and the heat was making it hard for her to think straight. In short, she was in a bad state. She kept worrying about that vision. Shikamaru had assured her that everything was going to be fine, but she couldn't help feeling that the matter was settled that way. There was still this uneasiness she felt. And she knew that if she felt uneasy, it meant something. She bit her lip. Maybe this time, she was just being paranoid. Maybe it was the heat. Yes, that was it. The sun was too much for her and she needed a bit of sleep. Then everything would be clearer. At least she hoped so.<p>

* * *

><p>Kiba glanced at Ino. They were standing in Sasuke's tent.<p>

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Let's… let's just go."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And miss a chance of finding anything that could compromise our pretty little newbie? Puh-lease." She started rummaging through the still not fully unpacked bag on the floor. There was nothing interesting there, only clothes, a spare toothbrush, a used piece of soap and-

"Hullo. Look at this."

Kiba bent down to see what Ino was holding. It was a family photo. On it, he saw a stern-looking man with a slender woman next to him who smiled into the camera. They were each holding the shoulder of two little boys, one older than the other. The older one looked grumpy, the younger one grinned broadly, showing a gap between his teeth. It looked like a pretty happy family. Kiba felt a sting in his chest. Was it guilt? He wasn't sure. But now he regretted calling Sasuke an orphan a bit. He hadn't known his parents at all, so it wasn't as much of a loss because he couldn't remember them. Sasuke on the other hand had spent most of his life with his family. Being robbed of that was far more painful, he thought. Suddenly he felt like an intruder. He grasped Ino's shoulder.

"We shouldn't be doing this. Let's just get out of here and forget this, okay? C'mon."

But Ino refused to move. She was staring at the photo with hunger in her eyes. It scared him.

"Ino?"

She looked up, and the hunger was gone. "Okay, let's go." She hid the photo in her pocket. Kiba stared at her in shock.

"Aren't you gonna put it back?"

Ino smiled at him, the way you smile at a kid who doesn't understand something simple that you've been explaining to him a hundred times. "It's for blackmailing, sweetheart. Ever thought of that?" With that she marched out of the tent.

"Come on, I have an idea."

* * *

><p>On the other side of the camping place, Shikamaru was dealing with his own scruples. He was standing in front of Gaara's tent again, angry at himself for coming here again. Where was the sense in confessing to a guy? And then Gaara, of all people. Why couldn't it be a cute girl like Temari or Sakura? It would have been so much easier. But no, he had fallen for a man. Not a hot girl, not a pretty woman. A goddamn man. It was a good-looking, earnest, sexy man, yes, but he was a man, and that just wasn't okay. Shikamaru shook his head, as if to shoo away his thoughts. It didn't really work well. And besides, he wasn't exactly homosexual. Boobs still turned him on, and he could still watch lesbian porn and be aroused. There was no problem in that. But in the end, when he was alone, the thing he would fantasize about wasn't boobs or hot girls making out. It was Gaara. A naked, heated Gaara. A goddamn man. And that was a serious problem. Shikamaru pinched his arm to calm down. He wasn't going to let his thoughts go <em>that way<em> again. Not now. And besides, he wasn't like Kiba. Everyone knew Kiba liked Naruto more than as a brother. And everyone accepted it because it was puppy love. He would wake up eventually. But this was something more than affection. What Shika felt was more the sexual type of love. And boy, did he despise himself for it. But it had to be said. He couldn't look Gaara in the eyes anymore without imagining him naked. He had to tell him and then he would break off all ties. It would be hard, especially in a small community like theirs, but it had to be enough. He would just avoid him in every possible way. It was doable.

Shikamaru took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. But it had to be done. He walked up to the tent and stepped in

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Another cliffy, as so often before... I know I know it's mean. But it keeps people hooked in a way, doesn't it?

By the way, I just had to pull that childish prank on Sasuke. He slapped me for that and I have to wear a plaster over my cheek now. Yep, my characters can actually slap me. They're pretty violent at times because I like to experiment with their personalities and stuff. I am _so_ happy I'm a girl and cant get kicked in the balls, because I'd be castrated by now. (Naruto has some good kicks up his sleeve, believe me)


	12. Misunderstood

**A/N:** Brace yourselves. Seriously. I think that after this, you'll hate Ino like you've never hated her before. Her mind is so warped that I'm almost proud of my work. Almost. But no worries, it'll get better - after all I'm not an Ino-hater. Oh and don't lynch me for what she did. I had to close my eyes while typing that part because I couldn't bear it.

**Warning:** Language, (homo-)sexual implications (they're finally coming up more often), unfair violence (I'm sorry, but it had to happen)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. But I own Ino's evil side, for what it's worth. And the puppy's mine. Mine. My preciousss.

* * *

><p><strong>Misunderstood<strong>

The first thing Shikamaru saw was Sakura. She was lying on Gaara's bed with only a bra and panties on. The second thing he saw was Temari, who also had practically nothing on and was sitting over Sakura. The third thing was the fact that they were the only ones in the tent. And the fourth thing was that Temari had her hands on Sakura's boobs. Suddenly Sakura noticed him standing there, and then everything seemed to happen very, very slowly. First Sakura shoved Temari from her. Then Temari scrambled for her shirt. Then Sakura turned bright red in the face. Then Shikamaru felt his knees give in.

"W-what the..:" He searched for words but his head had gone numb. He had just seen two cute girls he'd known for most of his life in a very awkward moment. He shook his head. No. It was the heat. He was hallucinating. Temari was only massaging Sakura. That had to be it. Yes. Everything he had seen had been perfectly normal and he had just misunderstood. Yes, that was it. Yes.

"Oi, what's going on? Why's he here?" _Oh my God, it's him_, Shikamaru thought. He felt panic rise in his chest. Gaara pulled him up and made him sit on a chair while the two girls dressed up in a hurry and left the tent, both blushing crimson red. He gaped after them, unable to think or say anything. Gaara sighed.

"I let them use my tent. It's been going on for quite a while now. I was wondering when somebody would notice." He sounded calm. How could he be so calm? Shika knew _he_ wasn't calm.

"Here, drink this." Shikamaru took the glass of water and gulped it down in one go. He was suddenly feeling very dry.

"So, they're… they're…involved?" He croaked.

Gaara smirked. "You could say that." He sat on his bed. Shikamaru noticed that he only had his shorts on but no shirt and felt a tightening in his groin. This wasn't good. Not at all.

"Jeez, don't look so shocked. You'll be over it in a minute." Suddenly a thought struck Shikamaru. Why was Gaara so calm about Sakura being lesbian? After all it was sort of a public secret that he was all eyes for her. This didn't make sense.

"But… aren't you… sort of… in love with her?" He asked quietly.

The redhead frowned. "Who, Temari? Don't be stupid."

"Sakura." Shika was starting to wonder whether Gaara was trying to act stupid on purpose or whether he really didn't know who he was talking about.

"Oh." Gaara's face hardened a bit, but the expression was gone in a second. Instead, he smirked. "Nope. She's cute and all, but nothing more."

Shikamaru wasn't sure if he believed his friend. "But I thought-"

"No. Whatever you heard, it's not true", Gaara cut him short sharply. His brusque tone surprised Shika. What was going on here?

* * *

><p>Ino stared at the dog pen pensively. She had sent Kiba back to Sasuke's tent again after convincing him that there was nothing wrong with sniffing around a bit. She didn't want him to disturb her.<p>

There were no difficulties in finding what she was looking for; the black-and-yellow puppy licked her hand and yipped at her happily. The poor baby had no idea. All the better for her. Ino licked her lips gleefully. _Oh, this is going to be fun._ She giggled quietly. _Fun, fun, fun._

The puppy was still yipping around, and it irritated her. It was too happy. She pinched the dog's paw. It stopped yipping and whined instead. _Much better_, she thought. Now she placed the dog on the ground and watched it lick the pinched paw. She aimed, and kicked. The dog toppled over and yowled. The sound was music to her ears. The yowling turned into desperate howls, and the other dogs inside the pen grew anxious. They kept barking and shuffling around nervously, but there was nothing they could possibly do. Ino was ecstatic, but it annoyed her too, because she couldn't concentrate. She hissed at the dogs and the barking ceased. Now she was undisturbed. She kept kicking until the yowls went silent. The puppy lay motionless on the ground, beaten and bloody. Was it dead? Ino didn't know. Ino didn't _care_. She felt adrenaline surge through her veins, and she was aroused. She licked her lips again, and brushed away a stray strand of hair in her face. Her shoes were covered with specks of blood and she groaned. She hated her things being dirty. But on the other hand, it made her feel thrilled. The blood stains were evidence of something forbidden, something evil. _Oh, so exciting!_ Ino smiled and skipped away. Her work was done, and she was very pleased with herself.

* * *

><p>Hinata woke up with a start. She had had the same dream again, the same vision. She was all sweaty and shaking. But this time she had seen something distinct, a face. And evil, so much evil! It had been a mask of sin. She was terrified. Hinata scrambled out of her bed and ran outside. She hoped that she wasn't too late. Oh, she prayed to God that she wasn't!<p>

* * *

><p>Sasuke closed his book shut. Naruto had gone away a while ago, and he could see him sitting in the shade of another tree some distance away from him. He was absorbed in with his game boy. Sasuke climbed down the tree swiftly. He had been surprised that it was so easy, but then again, he had climbed on trees ever so often during his early childhood. The memory made his chest tighten. Those days weren't something he recounted gladly – they reminded him too much of his loss. And they made him angry. Despite what other people thought, he knew he was somehow guilty of his family's death. He didn't know how (he didn't remember anything from that night) but something told him that he had done something very, very bad. And it haunted him.<p>

Suddenly he tripped over something. A quiet little voice whined in protest. He looked down and gasped.

He had been so absorbed by his thoughts that he had tripped over his puppy. It was lying on the ground, and it looked beaten up. Its fur was sticky with blood, and one of its legs stuck out in an odd angle. Sasuke assumed it was broken. He knelt down and touched the dog lightly. He was scared that he would hurt the creature. The puppy looked at him with one big, sad eye and whined again.

"Who did this to you?" He whispered in shock. He picked the dog up and cradled it in his arms like a baby. The dog let out one last soft whine and then closed its eyes. Its ear stopped twitching.

"No. Oh no, no, no. Come on, little one, wake up. Come on, I'll fix you. Oh, fuck!" He put the dog down again. His shirt and hands were smeared with blood, but he didn't notice it. All that mattered was the dog. Who had done this? And why? It was just a damn puppy. It hadn't done anything to anyone. So why? Why?

Someone gasped. He looked up. Kiba stared at him, then at the puppy. Then he snarled and lunged at Sasuke.

"What have you done? What have you done? That was _my_ dog, you fucker!"

Sasuke faltered. "No", he shook his head and glared at Kiba. What was the idiotic dog boy thinking? As if he'd do that.

"Don't fucking lie to me! You killed it!" Kiba's eyes shot lightning. He was furious. He pinned Sasuke to the ground and aimed.

"_Stop!_"

Kiba's fist stopped in mid air. He looked up and saw Hinata. She was panting and sweaty, but there was a determined look in her eye. "Stop", she repeated. "Don't."

Kiba scowled. "And why should I? He fucking killed my-"

"He didn't", Hinata cut him short. "It wasn't him."

"But there's blood all over him!"

"He didn't do it." Hinata looked at him sternly. She was serious. Kiba let go of Sasuke and stood up.

"Who?" He was still angry, and he was looking for something – or someone – to let his anger out on, Sasuke could see it in his eyes. He agreed with him silently. _Who?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I feel so sorry for the little baby. Really. I wanted to cancel that part out but on the other hand I couldn't think of anything more despicable for a 16-year-old to do (yeah she's pretty young)

Yay there's a bit of lesbian stuff going on, who'd have known? I might bring them up in the future, I'm not sure yet.


	13. Guilty

**A/N:** Yes! I told you it would get better! Now go, quickly, read. Now.

**Warning:** Language, madness, wild accusations, and a cliffy. The usual, really.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. But why I don't is beyond my understanding.

* * *

><p><strong>Guilty<strong>

Ino skipped up to Naruto.

"Hey."

Naruto grinned at her.

"Hey."

Ino looked around, as if she were checking if anyone was around.

"Um, I got to tell you something." She put on a worried face. "You know, that puppy Gaara gave to Sasuke? I think he's done something to it."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"

Ino pretended to hesitate. "I-I saw him take it out of the pen and pinch it and stuff. I thought he saw me so I came here, and I'm scared he might have done something with it. But don't tell him I told you!"

Naruto considered the situation for a moment. Then he stood up. "I don't believe you. He wouldn't do that." He wanted to walk away but Ino grabbed his shirt and stopped him.

"I swear, I saw him. I… I'll prove it to you." She walked towards the dog pen and Naruto followed her. She smiled to herself. Everything was going perfectly.

* * *

><p>Tsunade touched the puppy gently and felt a few spots. Then she put an ear to its chest and listened. It was faint, but there was a heartbeat. She sat up.<p>

"It's still alive. But I can't guarantee anything", she added quickly when Kiba's face lit up and Hinata sighed in relief.

"Why not?" It was the new boy, Sasuke who had asked the question. Tsunade looked at him wearily. He looked sombre, but not too shocked or anything. It was like he didn't really understand what had happened. But his face was earnest and she saw that he was worried, deep inside, though he didn't show it directly.

"There might be internal bleedings, I don't know, I'll have to call a vet. You two", she turned to Kiba and Hinata," get me Orochimaru. He'll know a good doctor. And you", she looked at Sasuke, "get changed. You're full of blood."

* * *

><p>Ino dragged Naruto with her. She saw Tsunade up ahead and Sasuke, his shirt full of blood stains. Her plan had worked.<p>

Naruto saw them too now and sucked in the air loudly. He hadn't expected that, Ino guessed.

Tsunade saw them come along and frowned. Sasuke just walked away slowly. He seemed dazed to Ino, but she couldn't say for sure. She made a loud gasp when she saw the dog.

"Oh my God, who _did_ this?" She pressed some tears out of her eyes for effect. Tsunade just shook her head. "I don't know."

Ino wiped her eyes and looked at Sasuke accusingly. "_He_ did it. I saw him pinch the puppy just a while ago. Auntie, _do_ something, _he_ did this!" Tsunade frowned again. But before she could say anything, Hinata ran up to them. She was carrying a cell phone. Sasuke guessed that she had just called a vet. She saw Naruto and smiled weakly at him, but then her eyes fell on Ino.

"Y-you!" She backed away, clutching the phone in front of her as if it were a shield.

Ino looked at her innocently. "What is it?"

"You beast! How could you?" Tears fell down Hinata's cheeks. Ino tried to make a step towards her, but the girl backed away even more.

"Don't come near me! You're evil", she cried. "You tried to kill it!"

Tsunade, Sasuke and Naruto looked at her in astonishment. What was she talking about? But Ino grinned broadly and chuckled. "Oh dear, I've been found out." Her smile darkened. "How did you know?" Now she was sneering like a viper ready to attack. "Tell me, little witch, how did you find out? Did you have a _vision_?"

Hinata's lips quivered, and she mumbled something. Ino could see that she was petrified. She tilted her head. Somehow it wasn't any fun this time, watching somebody cringe and be afraid. It wasn't fun. Why wasn't it? She tried to smile but didn't manage. "Little witch, what have you done to me?"

Then, all of a sudden, she felt furious. The little witch had cursed her. She knew it.

"_What have you done to me?_"

With that she lunged at Hinata. But before she could so much as touch her, she was pulled back violently. The force of the pull made her fall to the ground. She started crying and grabbed fistfuls of her hair. "What have you done to me? What have you done to me?" She kept whimpering, though it was more to herself than anybody else. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. She shrieked and punched and tried to shove the person away, but they wouldn't budge. The arms held her tight. She felt like she was in a cage, and the arms were the iron bars that held her in. After a while she stopped struggling. She was shaking all over and tears and snot streamed down her face. A gentle voice whispered in her ear.

"Shh, quiet now. It'll be all right." Ino drew a shuddering breath. No matter how she fought against it, she couldn't help but believing the voice. She calmed down, and the shaking stopped, but she still cried. She wanted to cry her soul out. But then again, she didn't have one, did she? It made her a bit sad. The voice started singing softly, and she clung onto every tune. It was calming. Soon, she was asleep.

While Hinata cradled Ino in her arms, the others watched in silence. Some were too shaken by the events to speak. Some were awestricken by Hinata's reaction and watched in wonder, afraid that the spell would break if they said anything.

Kiba looked at Hinata and suddenly realized that the scene was oddly familiar. It reminded him vaguely of a Pieta. He also thought that Hinata looked all the more beautiful. She looked like a Madonna, smiling sadly and cradling Ino like her lost child. She had an almost heavenly aura around her. He couldn't explain it any other way. And he didn't have the courage to try and define the feeling he got when he saw her. Her whole being, the purity of her person, everything was just too much to grasp at that moment. From the looks on the faces of the others, they felt the same way.

* * *

><p>Sasuke looked at the person next to him. They were standing on top of the hill overlooking the camping grounds of the circus. A cold breeze made him shiver slightly. It was getting late in the afternoon, he realized. Time had passed quickly without him noticing it. Down below, he could see Ino being hauled into an ambulance-like car on a bed. They were going to take her for psychological examinations.<p>

"Look. I'm sorry for blaming you." Kiba looked at him with honest eyes, and Sasuke believed him.

"Hn." He couldn't think of anything else to say. There was nothing to say anyway.

"And… about Naruto… what do you feel about him? I just wanna know what I'm at, fair and square, is all."

Sasuke hadn't expected that question. He thought for a moment.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You fought for him, didn't you?"

"Hn."

"Look, this might sound rude and childish, but I was here long before you. I know him better than you. I've…" – the words seemed to be hard for him to say, maybe because Sasuke was more of a stranger than anything else – "I've loved him since ages. And if you don't know what you feel for him, then leave him be."

Sasuke sighed. Kiba took that as a signal for him to continue. It wasn't meant to be one, but that didn't matter.

"If you don't love him, then please, stop chasing after him. It'll only cause confusion. And he's already confused enough." Kiba bit his lip when he remembered Naruto's confession to Shikamaru. The anger that he had felt then had now turned into hollow sadness. "It's not easy for me to tell this to you, believe me. But I really care for him, you know." With that he walked down the hill, not looking back or even waiting for an answer. Sasuke reckoned that he'd swallowed all of his pride to apologize, and after that, there was no more reason to talk to Sasuke anymore. They were both embarrassed, only Kiba couldn't hide it as well as Sasuke could.

"I care for him too, you know", he whispered softly. "Don't think it'll be easier from now on." Nobody heard him say it. Only the wind carried his voice away into the distance.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: So, that's it for now. I'm working on the new chapter of course, but it might take some time, so be patient. I might be lazy but I also want you to read good stuff and not something I sucked out of my little finger during ten minutes. Bye then, I'll try and work fast!


	14. Hidden

**A/N:**Okay so one week has passed since Ino's craziness. I don't like time leaps, but this has to speed up a bit. Yay Hinata gets some spotlight and Shika too. I've decided that they all deserve a bit more credit in this story, so everybody is a main character now. Yay!

**Warning**: weird dreams, a prophecy, Shika's indecisive ass, a bit of language

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. Boohoo.

* * *

><p><strong>Hidden<strong>

Sitting in a tree really _did_ make people feel better, Hinata thought when she let one of her feet dangle down from the branch she was sitting on. No wonder Naruto did it so often. She had been brooding over the incidents from the week before day and night, and by now the dark rings under her eyes made her look like some kind of zombie. No, she hadn't had much sleep lately. And yes, she had tried everything to make the insomnia go away. That included heaps of sleeping pills, esoteric music, warm water, scented baths and even an attempt to convince Aunt Tsunade that knocking her out with a baseball bat was perfectly fine if it let her have a good night's sleep. Obviously, nothing had worked. Now, she was sitting in a tree, trying not to focus on anything at all, and letting her thoughts wonder. But it was of no use – she kept going back to thinking about the week before.

She had had a dream. At first there hadn't been anything in that dream that would have caused alarm, but then she had gotten this weird, nervous feeling that had slowly turned into panic. And there was blood. Lots of blood. And a child, crying silently. It wasn't really crying, though, more like staring at something Hinata hadn't been able to see, a single tear running down its cheek. And then the face had appeared. A hovering, smiling face. At first, Hinata had thought that the nightmare was turning into a pleasant dream, but the smile had then morphed into an evil, vile sneer. Hinata had screamed, but Ino's face had laughed at her, and laughed and laughed and laughed, and then it started crying bloody tears, still laughing. Hinata had woken up with a start and known that something had happened, or was about to happen, that wasn't good, wasn't good at all. She had almost been too late.

"_One brother kills the other. Innocence is deceived. Passion's hatred grows. And the crying devil's work is done."_ The words echoed in her mind, the chanting, sneering face still fresh in her mind. The only element of her dream she didn't quite understand. She knew she had prevented the prophecy from happening, but what exactly she had prevented was something she had yet to comprehend. The "devil" was Ino. That was clear. The devil that cried bloody tears. The demon that repented. The two "brothers" could be Kiba and Sasuke. Kiba was furious because he thought Sasuke had killed his precious pet. But he wouldn't have killed him. Kiba wasn't capable of that - in contrast to Ino. Hinata shuddered at the thought. But who or what was "passion"? And what about "innocence"? Did innocence being deceived mean that people would think that Sasuke had tried to kill the dog, or was the meaning completely different? At least she had a few hunches as to the meaning of "innocence", but "passion" completely left her in the dark. And now that she was having difficulties with seeing the future of the others, the problem was even greater. Hinata let out a deep, long sigh. This wasn't going anywhere.

Down below, seated in the high grass, Kiba watched the girl and wondered. She looked so pretty with that pensive look on her face, and the sunlight made her hair sparkle almost magically. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru was sitting in Tsunade's trailer in a grumpy mood. They were having <em>the discussion<em> again. It had become a kind of ritual over the last half a year. It happened every month. Tsunade first discussed business with him, and then she cleared her throat and asked the question.

"So, when will you move back to Gaara's place?"

Around half a year ago, Shikamaru had lived together with Gaara. But then Gaara had started to have female guests and Shikamaru didn't exactly enjoy being near two people (sometimes three) having sex, let alone in the same "room". That, of course, was the excuse he had brought when he had told Tsunade and Orochimaru that he wanted to move out. The other reason, the main reason, really, was that it made him feel pissed off and uncomfortable when he thought about Gaara being touched by those women. At some point he had realized that it was jealousy. But no-one was allowed to know, naturally. Only Orochimaru had immediately seen through him. Sometimes Shikamaru wondered whether the man had a sixth sense, just like those snakes he adored. He looked at Tsunade gloomily.

"I don't know. Maybe when he's stopped banging middle-aged women and letting Temari and-" He broke off, fighting the urge to slap himself. Tsunade didn't know about Temari and Sakura, and Shikamaru had already guessed that it was probably supposed to stay that way. The sudden thought hit him that Orochimaru probably already knew. _Creepy_. He cleared his throat. "I don't want to live with him. Why do you have to ask me every time? It's becoming a nuisance."

Tsunade sighed. "Gaara has sex with those women because he gets a hell of a lot of money for it. It's not like I'm forcing him into it. And I can't really stop him because he's already eighteen. The only thing I could do is ban him, but what good would that do to any of us? Besides, he came to me some days ago and asked me whether you had said anything about moving back in. After all, he hasn't had anybody over for some time now, now that I think of it."

Shikamaru frowned. What she said was true. But that didn't mean that there wouldn't be any "guests" in the future, did it? And he just couldn't understand why Gaara would even want to have him back. He would just be in the way, throwing knives around the place in his boredom and pondering. No, he was going to stay with Kiba and Naruto. And that's also what he told Tsunade. The woman only shook her head and waved him off.

Outside, Shikamaru ran into Orochimaru. _Again_, he thought. _Why do I keep bumping into him; is he following me? Ah, what a drag._ Orochimaru grinned at him broadly, showing his pointy teeth.

"Don't smile at me, old man, you'll freak me out one day with that predatory grin", Shikamaru mumbled. Orochimaru chuckled. "That's precisely what your wild friend told me too just now. He's back there, you'd better hurry up. Don't keep him waiting."

Shikamaru faltered. _Wild friend_? He looked to the place where Orochimaru was pointing to and saw Gaara kicking away a twig and sighed. What did the guy want from him? He walked up to Gaara.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Aaaand now go on to the next chapter to see what'll happen! I'm soo excited xD Jeez I must seem crazy to you... never mind.


	15. Lie to Me

**A/N: **weee let's get it on!

**Warning**: language, and I won't say anything more or it'll spoil the fun xD

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. For God's sake, why?

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><p><strong>Lie<strong>** To Me**

"What? I don't have much time", Shikamaru mumbled. Gaara looked down at him. He was taller than him by more than a head, and Shikamaru always felt painfully aware of that every time they stood face-to-face. The red-haired boy pressed his lips together and looked behind Shikamaru.

"Old man, fuck off. This is none of you business."

Orochimaru smiled broadly and walked away, chuckling. "Good luck in whatever you're about to do!"

Gaara snarled under his breath, then he looked back at Shikamaru.

"This way", Gaara ordered and trudged into the woods, parting a pair of bushes on the way. Shikamaru followed, intrigued, when Gaara stopped suddenly and turned around. Shikamaru noticed that he had a troubled look in his eyes.

"You were talking to Tsunade just now, right?" Gaara asked. Shikamaru shrugged and nodded.

"And… she asked you whether you wanted to move back in right?"

"U-huh." Shikamaru wondered where this conversation was leading to.

"What did you tell her?" Gaara took a step towards the other boy, forcing him to lean against the tree standing behind him.

"I told her I don't." All of a sudden Shikamaru felt the need to defend himself somehow, though he didn't know why or from what. A second later he did – Gaara hit his fist against the tree and leaned forward. Shikamaru's eye twitched at the impact, but otherwise he didn't move.

"Why?" The redhead growled.

He could smell Gaara's breath; it smelled like cherries. For some reason it aroused him. Their faces were so close…

"Why?" Gaara repeated, leaning even closer. Shikamaru averted his eyes and stared at the text on Gaara's shirt instead. It didn't really help, since that only made him notice that it was a V-necked tee. He gulped.

"Because… Because you keep having customers and it's annoying and because I'm more in the way than anything else. And you let Temari and Sakura use the tent as their playground. Need any more reasons?"

Gaara pursed his lips. "What if I tell you that I'm not having any customers anymore?"

"What if I tell you I don't care?" Shikamaru retorted. That was a lie. He felt like biting his tongue for it, but he stared Gaara straight in the eye, trying to tell him to knock it off or something bad would happen. Something he'd regret having done afterwards, like kissing him right then and there.

"You…" Gaara exhaled. He was annoyed. "You really don't wanna come back, do you?"

_Why does that make me feel like I'm the bad guy,_ Shikamaru thought.

"Give me one good reason why I should."

And that's when Gaara bent down and kissed him.

"Is that a good enough reason?" Gaara murmured. Then he felt a fist hit his stomach and he wheezed, stumbling backwards.

„What the…" Shikamaru covered his mouth and stared at Gaara with big eyes. "What…What the _fuck_?"

Gaara blushed and looked away. "You know exactly what. Don't make me say it."

"That… you… did you just…? I mean… did you just…?"

"Oh shut up! You made me look like an idiot just now! This wasn't supposed end this way, moron." Gaara rubbed his stomach where he'd been punched. "Jeez, you didn't have to hit me. Ah, so un-cool…"

Shikamaru didn't know what to say. All he knew was that Gaara – _Gaara_ – had just kissed him. Kissed. Him. Was this right? Or was this terribly, terribly wrong? No, it was right. This wasn't a dream, and it felt good. No… confusing, which was why he had punched Gaara. He'd been taken by surprise, for God's sake. He felt his ears grow red. Gaara was right; his reaction had been a bit un-cool. At least it made the situation really, really awkward. He rubbed his neck, not knowing what to do.

"Why did you do that?" He asked reluctantly and regretted it right away. Another awkward question. Damn, wasn't there any way out of this mess without sounding either awkward or plain stupid? _Be a man_, he told himself. _You're seventeen, old enough to know what to do. Goddammit, your IQ is higher than the average guy's, you run this place, at least try to do something intelligent!_

"Isn't that obvious?" Gaara asked back. "I'm attracted to you."

Shikamaru gulped. "What?" He asked sheepishly.

"I'm attracted to you. Sexually, mentally, name it. I want to touch you. I want to have sex with you. Get it?" Now Gaara wasn't blushing anymore. He was watching Shikamaru like a lurking wildcat now, eyes set on him with a determined sparkle. It made Shikamaru feel quite a bit uneasy. He felt exposed, like he was being stripped bare just by Gaara's gaze. It was degrading, but also pretty exciting. He could feel Gaara's desire…

But then he shook his head, waking up from his daze. This wasn't right. Gaara liked Sakura, not him. This was just one big prank. Little did Gaara know how that hurt Shikamaru, but he didn't want to spoil the "fun" and laughed quietly.

"Very funny. Okay, you fooled me. Show's over. You really had me for a moment."

Now it was Gaara's turn to stare. "W-what?"

"Everybody knows you like Sakura, dude. It's no secret. I just can't understand why you'd allow her to have fun with Temari in your own tent even though you're in love with her, but that's you problem, I guess."

Gaara let out a snort. "So you think this is a prank, huh. I just kissed you and you think it was a prank?"

"U-huh. Seriously man, I admit I was fooled for a second, but now you can stop pretending. You win. Can I go now?" Shikamaru grinned crookedly, forcing himself to act amused while his eyes stung. He didn't like to be pranked in general, but this was too much. Especially because it was Gaara. He just wanted to be alone now. He looked at Gaara, who was still staring at him, a missed expression on his face. There was anger in it, but also something like… pain?

"…Gaara?" Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow. Had he punched him too hard after all?

"Why won't you believe me?" Gaara asked desperately. "I want you. Is it so hard to understand?" He threw himself at Shikamaru and kissed him again, this time harder and with a violence that surprised him. And then Shikamaru understood. This wasn't about feelings. This was about sex. Gaara was probably so frustrated about Sakura that he needed a vent. And the choice had been him. He smiled to himself. It wasn't supposed to be this way, but it was better than nothing. If he was able to be with Gaara, then it was okay, right? A voice inside his head told him that it wasn't enough, not at all, but he ignored it and kissed Gaara back. A tear ran down his cheek, unnoticed. He scolded himself for crying like a girl. This was so unlike him. But then again, so was living a lie from now on. The last thought that came to him was that it was strange how things changed – then his mind went blank as he felt himself being stripped naked and laid onto the cold moss on the ground.

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><p>AN: YES! It's what you think it is! Mild Yaoi. But it's there. Shika and Gaara are the second couple to have sex in this fic... oh yeah, oh yeah, *author dances a happy dance thingy* update coming soon, stay tuned for more. love you guys! byebye!


	16. Pondering

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, here's the new chapter. It's twice as long as the last one, if it makes you feel any better ^^

**Warning**: Language, typical teen problems, more misunderstandings and peeking. I know, pretty bad-ass, right?

**Disclaimer**: The usual. Still don't own anything. Not even a hair on any of the characters' heads. Oh God, why nooooot?

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><p><strong>Pond-ering<strong>

Kiba scratched his head and coughed. He wasn't sure if asking Orochimaru for advice was a good idea, but he couldn't think of anybody else to go to.

"Uhm, can I ask you a question?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "You just did."

Kiba groaned. "You're not making this any easier, you know."

"Sorry. Go on, ask. Is it about Naruto?"

"Uhm, yeah… No. Sort of. I guess."

"You don't know if your feelings for him are really what you think they are because all of a sudden you're feeling attracted to someone else."

Kiba blinked. "How did you know?"

Orochimaru just winked. "I have my ways. It's Hinata, isn't it."

"What? How…?"

"Yes or No?"

"…Yeah."

"I thought as much. What are you going to do about it?"

Kiba exhaled. He didn't know. His love for Naruto had been something obvious and natural for him for ages, and he had never thought of questioning those feelings since they felt right. This… fascination for Hinata on the other hand was something new and unknown, and to be honest it scared him a bit, mostly because it had struck him so suddenly. It was like she had put some sort of spell on him.

Was this what they called love at first sight? But no, he'd seen Hinata too many times. This just didn't make sense. He groaned and slumped deeper into the chair he was sitting on. "Say, do you believe in love at first sight?"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "No, not really, but that doesn't mean-"

"What about second sight", Kiba cut him short. "Or… or third. I don't know."

"What are you trying to say, kiddo?"

"I'm… I'm trying to say that… Damn, this is too much for my brain! My poor head…" Kiba ruffled his hair, frustrated. He just wished he could get his thoughts into some kind of logical order; and while he was at it, maybe sort out his feelings, too. Suddenly, a thought hit him. He looked up at the old man and grinned. Orochimaru looked like he wasn't sure whether he liked the look on his face, but that didn't matter. He had thought of something. What if – what if love at first sight _did_ exist? And it all made sense now. He had looked at Hinata more than once. But he had never actually _seen_ her. He had never actually looked at her properly, in full consciousness. He had been too busy chasing after Naruto to stop and look for a second, and that was why he hadn't known what a wonderful creature Hinata was until now. He got up and hugged Orochimaru. "Thanks, man. I know what to do." And, leaving a stunned Orochimaru behind, he walked off to look for Hinata. There was something important he had to tell her.

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><p>Shikamaru watched Gaara put his torn jeans on again and adjust them on his hips. They were so slim that the jeans kept sliding down a bit, exposing his hip bones. Those were very sexy hip bones. Shikamaru looked away, ashamed of his thoughts. Gaara leant down and offered him a hand to pull him up. He ignored it and hoisted himself up instead, avoiding Gaara's glances. He didn't know what to say in this kind of situation. What could one possibly say after having sex with one's once-best-friend? Speaking of which, what did that make them now, fuck buddies? The word tasted sour in Shikamaru's mouth. It tasted of pain and regret and self-pity, that's what. His butt still itched, but he resisted the urge to scratch himself. "It'll get worse if you do", Gaara had warned him. <em>How does he even know that<em>, Shikamaru thought, _I thought he only did women_. On the other hand, so much he had thought about Gaara had been proven wrong that he didn't even bother to ponder over it any longer. He simply didn't care anymore. What he _did_ care about was what he was supposed to do from now on. Why did things have to be so damn complicated in life? Sometimes he wished answers grew on trees.

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><p>Hinata closed her eyes. It didn't really make any difference – she could still see everything around her, thanks to her ultra-short-term-vision, as Ino had once called it. Hinata felt a painful pinch in her chest when she thought of Ino. It was one of the creepier sides of her gift. The reason why she could see like anybody else with normal eyesight was that she had this short-term-vision-thing. Basically she saw her own future a split second before it happened, and that way she could 'see' her surroundings. At least that was the simplest, abridged version. In truth it was far more complicated; so complicated that she herself couldn't understand it completely. Shikamaru had tried to explain it the scientific way but had failed – Hinata didn't exactly represent the scientifical norm, after all. But norm or not, it was quite useful. She didn't have to worry about walking around the place blind as a bat. She hadn't even really known she was blind until one day when she had been sick and her energy level had been so low that her ability to have visions had almost faded completely. She had been around nine years old then, too young to have fully mastered her gift, but old enough to understand her state and what it meant. She had felt so weak and helpless like never before. After that she had decided to perfect every single power her gift brought with it.<p>

Something in the air made her look around. A kind of queasiness overtook her for a second, and then it was gone. She shivered. A twig broke on the ground underneath her. She looked down and saw Shikamaru walk out of the bushes beside Gaara. They didn't say anything. She could see their auras billowing around them – Gaara's was reddish-blue, which was unusual. He normally had a dark blue aura around him, composed and distant. Now it was more ruffled up and… and _red_. Red like passion and affection, with the light blue of calmness only just covering it up. Shikamaru's aura on the other hand was more of a deep burgundy red mixed with a bluish black, a sign of suppressed feelings and sadness. Lots of sadness. Hinata looked closer. She couldn't read minds, but auras told her a lot about a person's state of mind, and those two formed a pair of very interesting atmospheres. They were somehow connected to each other, she could see it by the way the auras overlapped sometimes and kept flickering up. She wondered about what had happened between those two.

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><p>Sasuke sat behind his bush and waited. He had been waiting for half an hour now, and it looked like he would have to wait for even longer. He scolded himself for staying – after all, this wasn't what he usually did. <em>One can also wait somewhere else<em>, a voice in his head told him with an accusing tone, _and it's not nice to peek._ Sasuke blushed a tiny bit. But just a bit.

He was sitting behind a large cranberry bush that grew right next to a large pond in the forest beside the camping grounds. It was summer, so naturally it would seem refreshing o go bathing in said pond. Sasuke had discovered it half an hour ago while wondering around because he was bored – at least that was what he had told himself, the truth was that he didn't want to encounter Kiba (who would surely tell him to stay away from Naruto, as always) and had to think of how to get Naruto to at least like him enough to be his friend (of course he'd take the friendship a few levels up immediately). Just as he been taking off his sandals to see if the water wasn't too cold, he had heard something – or in this case somebody – bound through the woods towards him, singing loudly to Good Charlotte that played out some sort of music device. Sasuke had instinctively hidden behind the nearest thing to him, which had been a cranberry bush, and watched as Naruto skipped into the clearing, throwing a small portable radio onto the grass, took his clothes off and jumped into the pond bellowing: "…_Baptised in the river, I'm delivered, I'm-_" With a splash he had hit the surface and dived down.

After half an hour of hearing Naruto splashing around, Sasuke was still having trouble to cope with having seen him stark naked for a few seconds. He had a boner, and he had turned his back towards the pond, eyes wide open. This wasn't exactly what he had expected, and the erection his shorts was still there – probably because the sounds of Naruto swimming around and humming to himself only made his thoughts wander to the erotic parts of his imagination, with Naruto's face and body plastered all over it. Sasuke groaned. There was no way for him to get out of there; if he stood up, he'd surely be seen by Naruto and there would be a lot of explaining to do. Especially because they hadn't talked since the Ino-incident, as everyone called it. Sasuke had shut himself off for the past week, not sure what to think or do – everything was so weird. The isolation had given him time to think – but he still couldn't figure out what drew him to the blond idiot. They had met two weeks ago. Two weeks, but Sasuke had immediately felt special about him. This was so weird. He had thought of blaming it on puberty, but that was just running away from the problem. Was it a problem? Okay, he was attracted to a guy. It could be worse…

A sound made him start. In front of him was Kiba, standing and gaping at the pond and crimson red in the face. The first thing Sasuke did was lunge at the guy and pull him down out of fear of being seen. The second thing he did was wonder why the heck he'd done that.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered frantically to Kiba, completely forgetting his composure. Oh God, if Naruto had heard… or seen… Kiba just looked at him weirdly. "What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, rather loudly in Sasuke's opinion. Sasuke just shook his head and put a finger to his lips, urging him to just shut the fuck up. Kiba started grinning. "Oh, I get it", he whispered. "You were peeking, weren't you? You were." He drew a breath, and Sasuke felt all the blood drain from his face. He knew what was going to come next.

"OI, NARU-" Kiba was cut short when Sasuke toppled him over and clamped his hand to that… that _idiot_'smouth.

"Shut up!" He growled.

"Ehh… what are you guys doing here?"

Both boys froze. Then they looked up slowly. Naruto was standing in front of them, holding his T-shirt and looking at them curiously. They looked at each other again, then at Naruto, then back at each other. And then they realised how their position looked like. Kiba pushed away Sasuke, growing red on the face and accidentally kicking Sasuke's ribs, and Sasuke got a coughing fit.

"Ah! This isn't what it looks like… we… I mean, I… he…" Kiba started to stammer, searching for words. He looked up at Naruto. Naruto looked back at him, still wearing that curious look on his face.

"What does it look like?" he asked. _Is he really that clueless or was that irony_, Sasuke thought.

"Uhm, well, that is…" in his embarrassment, Kiba wanted to look down again, when he realised that Naruto wasn't wearing anything. He cast a quick glance at Sasuke and saw that he had seen it, too. Oddly enough, nothing happened to Kiba. No boner, no nothing; just the awkward feeling one usually gets when a friend inconveniently shoves his naked glory into one's view. Suddenly Naruto put on a worried face.

"Eh, Sasuke, are you okay? Your nose is bleeding." He rushed up to Sasuke, who was clutching his nose and trying to stop the blood from flowing out. Naruto tried to pull him up by the arms, but only sent him falling face on into Naruto's lower parts. Sasuke emitted a strangled cry and pushed Naruto away from him.

"You idiot, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto blinked in dismay. Sasuke just stumbled backwards, almost tripping over a tree root. "And… and put some clothes on, for God's sake!"

Kiba snorted. This was too stupid to be true. Naruto looked at him.

"Kiba, what's going on? I don't get it!" When Kiba started laughing, he punched him in the face. Much to Kiba's surprise, it actually hurt.

"Asshole, don't laugh at my misery!"

Kiba sighed. "All right, all right. I'll stop." But he couldn't. In the end, he landed in Tsunade's trailer with a blue eye and two bruises on his left cheek, where he met Sasuke, who was being treated for his nosebleed. When Tsunade asked about what had happened, Sasuke remained silent while Kiba started hooting with laughter and Naruto stomped off, though only after giving Kiba another blue eye, which made him stop laughing.

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><p>Back in the forest, Hinata still sat on her branch, blushing violently. She hadn't known that the view was so vast from her tree, and she wasn't sure whether it was a good thing. How was she going to be able to look in the eyes of any of the boys now...?<p>

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><p><strong>AN**: Soo how was it? Hehehe Naruto punched people, I wanted to show that he's stronger than you think. Okay... I hope the next chapter won't take so long to upload, but I will be busy next week with all sorts of school stuff, so be patient, okay? Stay tuned! Bye-bye! Oh and please don't ask me how Orochimaru knows everything - I don't know either. He must be psychic or something. Freaks me out, to be honest. ;P


	17. Confession

**A/N:** Welcome, me hearties, to a new chappy of this disastrous fanfic. I'm saying disastrous because I haven't uploaded for ages (*author gets attacked by an angry mob of readers who throw rotten tomatoes at her*) I'm sorry! Really. But I'm under a lot of pressure at school, and I might have to repeat the year so I've been ploughing through tons of tests and presentations and and and… I feel like I'm suffocating under the work. So I have a good excuse for not uploading. Just saying.

And I'd like to thank my reviewers for reviewing, it means a lot to me. Thank you! ;)

Ok, now go. Read, children. 'Tis a work from my sweat and blood.

**Warning:** Small surprises. True Blood reference (Godrick – most awesome vampire evaarrr).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto series or any characters featured in it. If I did I wouldn't be here writing fanfics. This shit would be on TV. U-huh. Believe it.

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><p><strong>Confession<strong>

„Ahhh, totally worth it", Kiba grinned when Tsunade finally released him and Sasuke from her clutches. His left eye was now beginning to throb painfully, but it didn't really matter – he had had a good laugh, and that made it okay. Kiba realized that he hadn't laughed so much ever since Sasuke had arrived, and the Ino-incident hadn't made things much better. Everyone had been a bit on edge the past few days, mostly because of the shock. Except maybe Naruto, but Kiba suspected that he was just coping with the shock differently, which – in his case – meant suppressing it completely. He had probably sat in his tree for a long time and hidden all his fear and discomfort up there and come down the same as always. _He'd always do that whenever something happened_, Kiba thought bitterly, looking at his feet, _and he'd never tell anyone about his troubles, not even me._

"Who are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked him quietly. 'Who', Kiba noticed, not 'what'.

"Naruto."

"Hn."

They stood in silence. Both of them wondered what to say, and whether it would be better to just go their own separate ways for now. They stayed, and stood silently.

"You really like him, don't you", Kiba finally blurted out.

"Who?"

"Naruto."

"Hn."

Kiba sighed. This guy wasn't making a conversation much easier, now was he. He bit his lip. "You know, he's not the happy-go-lucky guy people make him out to be", he started, "he's actually pretty sensitive to other people. He just doesn't show it."

"Hn."

"…And when he wants to hide his feelings, he goes up to his tree and sits there brooding so that when he comes down again he can be his cheerful self again. He's been through more than you'd think."

"Hn."

Kiba fidgeted nervously. He felt like he was supposed to keep talking, but wasn't sure whether Sasuke was really listening. "I… I'm sorry for calling you an orphan and all. I saw the family picture. I mean, _your_ family picture."

Sasuke looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Ino wanted me to help her find something that could be your weakness", Kiba said quietly. He felt relieved after saying it. The matter had been like a stone on his conscience and now the weight had been lifted.

"Oh", Sasuke said. Kiba frowned. "'Oh'? Is that all?" He asked dubiously. "Aren't you angry? I mean, I offended you, I accused you of killing my dog, I tried to menace you if you didn't stop liking Naruto, I-"

"You talk too much."

Kiba laughed nervously. "I do?"

"Yeah." Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. "Just forget it already."

"So… are we good?"

"Hn", Sasuke nodded.

Kiba sighed, relieved.

"Why do you love him?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Kiba looked at him. "Why? I just do. He's adorable, and he makes me want to protect him. He's _deep_. He understands things, you know what I mean?"

Sasuke nodded again. "Hn. Thought so."

Kiba laughed softly. "Is it that strange?"

"No, it's the same with me."

Kiba's head jerked up. Had the guy just admitted _that_ to him? Really? He hadn't expected that. But it made him happy too. It meant that Sasuke was serious, no matter how strange it was for him to have fallen in love with Naruto so quickly.

"You have my blessings then", he said, grinning. This time Sasuke seemed surprised. His eyebrow had twitched ever so slightly. Kiba realized he had become pretty good at reading the guy.

"Why", Sasuke asked slowly.

"Do you need an explanation?" Kiba sighed exaggeratedly and punched Sasuke playfully in the arm. The brunet didn't protest. "I give you my blessings and all the luck you need in getting him. Go for it, man."

Sasuke stared at him. _He must think I'm barking mad_, Kiba thought and grinned. Ha-ha, _barking_ mad. He grinned broader at his own joke.

"But you love him." Sasuke seemed lost.

"I do."

"So…" Sasuke looked at him questioningly, obviously confused.

"I just don't love him the way you do. He's like my brother, my dad, my son and my best friend at the same time. He's my family. But that's that."

"But…"

Kiba shook his head. "Don't. It's like I said, so don't question it. Now go before I change my mind and kick your ass for making me endure Naruto's fists." Then he turned his back to Sasuke and walked back towards Tsunade's tent. He heard Sasuke walk away in the opposite direction, and wondered whether Tsunade had something against half-broken hearts in her medical bag. Though it really was a relief.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked mildly surprised when Sasuke entered his tent. The brunet smirked to himself. So he had Kiba's blessings, huh. Good to know.<p>

"How's your nose?" Naruto asked, pointing at Sasuke's nose.

"…S'okay", Sasuke answered. Suddenly he felt awkward again. This blond boys presence just seemed to make him lose his cool at some point. It was annoying. He didn't like not being in control of the situation.

"Better? Is it swollen? Can I touch it?" Naruto leaned forward, meaning to get up, but Sasuke backed away and sat on the bed opposite to him. "Aw, come on, let me touch it. I wanna know if it feels soft like a chicken sandwich. Ino always says that when you break your nose you-" He broke off, covering his mouth. Ino was still a delicate subject. Sasuke's hand twitched in his direction, but he thought better and kept it on the bed. He didn't know whether Naruto would accept it. Maybe he'd run away to his tree again. Would he have the courage to follow? What if he was rejected? It was too early. He should take it slow. Or maybe he shouldn't. This was his chance. He should grasp it. But no. No. There was no need to rush. So he just sat on the bed and looked at his hand resting on the dark green sheets. He guessed that it was Shikamaru's bed. It looked so neat and the green was the same as Shikamaru's shirt the first day Sasuke had come to the circus. It was funny that he remembered. Naruto had had black shorts on, he thought, and an orange shirt with some kind of spiral-thingy printed on it. God it was really strange that he still remembered.

"S-sorry", Naruto mumbled through his hand, jerking Sasuke back to reality again. His eyes glistened but he didn't cry, Sasuke noticed with relief. He didn't want a repeat of last time.

"S'okay", he said again. He couldn't think of anything else, to be honest. It wasn't easy to talk to someone you like. It was like all the words in his head had just flown away, and only left emptiness. He just couldn't think of anything to say, ever, there was just this awkwardness. Naruto sniffed and smiled.

"Guess I'm still not used to her being… gone. It's strange. For everybody. And y'know, Sakura's been hit the worst, like because she's her twin, right, and she's just been sitting around in Temari's tent doing nothing. I thought about doing the same, but, y'know, there's no sense in that, if everybody did it then the circus would be a wasteland, and Shika's already having problems with something and Hinata, well I don't know 'bout her, she never says anything. She's really shy, you know. Pretty, too. But mostly really, really shy. Ah", he blinked. "I've started ranting. Sorry. I do that when I'm nervous." He rubbed the back of his neck in an uneasy gesture. Sasuke looked at him curiously. Was it just him or was Naruto acting rather maturely, as in not goofily anymore like before? He liked this side of the cute blond bo- Naruto. Kiba had been right. He just covered his concern with a goofy, childish attitude.

"So… how are things with Kiba?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "What were you doing in the bushes?" He gave Sasuke a naughty look. The latter gulped.

"N-nothing, really. Just… you know. We… he kind of, uh… well…"

"You were kissing, weren't you", Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. _Great_, Sasuke thought desperately,_ now he's being his goofy self again. _His personality was so confusing! "Ah, you're blushing. It's true then, innit?"

"No!"

"Suuure."

"I'm telling you", Sasuke exclaimed, "he just caught me pee-" He pressed his lips together. He's almost said it. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Peeing?" He asked, unconvinced.

"No, jeez, he… he… uh, I was kinda…" Sasuke felt himself blushing and cursed himself inwardly for it. He was sure that his face would betray him. Naruto's face changed slowly as he counted two and two together. Sasuke knew he was screwed.

"Were you… peeking?"

"…Mn", Sasuke mumbled.

"Were you?"

Sasuke mumbled something again in response, it sounded like 'mnyeah'.

"On me?"

Sasuke averted his eyes from the blonde's searching gaze. This was becoming very uncomfortable. Suddenly the air in the tent felt very hot. He gulped, but his mouth was dry. _I'm screwed._

"Oh. That makes sense."

Sasuke gaped at Naruto. "W-what?"

"I said it makes sense." Naruto smiled and reached out to pat Sasuke's shoulder. "It's obvious that you won't tell me just like that. You wanna wait 'til you're sure you're serious."

"Are you serious?" How the heck did he know that Sasuke wanted to wait with his confession?

"But y'know, Kiba's a good guy and all, so you can go on and make it official, he won't have a problem with it."

"How did you know Kiba and I talked?" This was so strange.

"Aw come on, just go to him now and tell him. I'm sure you guys will be happy together. You have my blessings, by the way, so-"

There were hundreds of alarm bells ringing in Sasuke's head by now. "Woah, hold it. You think Kiba and I are…?"

"U-huh."

"No. No way. No. How did you even get that idea, like…" Sasuke grabbed his head and dug his fingers into his hair. This was just dumb. "I… I'm not like _that_ with him. With Kiba."

"Right."

"I'm serious."

"Yup. I hear you."

"Listen to me."

"I am."

That bloke was grinning from ear to ear. He had no idea. Sasuke had changed his mind by now about him. The guy was just about as deep as a puddle. He. Was. So. Slow. Sasuke growled under his breath. "Right, that's it." He had had enough. No more pretending, beating around the bush and what not.

"I love you."

And with a leap he pinned Naruto down onto the bed and kissed him.

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><p><strong>AN:** Omg what will happen next? O.O Yeah I'm excited too because I don't know myself yet. Oh and I've uploaded a new chappy for _Revolver_ too, so check that out as soon as it comes out! Stay tuned. Thanks for bearing with me. _Oh and I have a little quiz for you: what's the True Blood reference I mentioned? Good Luck, leave the answer in a comment ^^_


	18. Hesitate

**A/N:** Yes, yes I know. I haven't uploaded in a while. But now I don't have any school anymore so as a big big "SORRY" I've uploaded 2 chapters. Forgive me please?

**Warning:** Overly short chapter, very unfair violence against a kid, rape

**Disclaimer: **How many times do I have to say it? I think you know by now.

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><p><strong>Hesitate<strong>

'I love you'.

The words had been ever so quiet, but they echoed in Naruto's mind. He felt himself being pinned down onto his bed, and his head sunk into his pillow. Sasuke pressed his lips down on his with a force that made Naruto lose his breath. He didn't even have time to think of how confused he was, let alone protest. The kiss had taken him completely by surprise. But it wasn't unpleasant. So it had to be alright. Right?

Sasuke licked his lower lip, then bit it lightly, seducing him with his touch. Naruto opened his mouth, inviting him in. He might as well enjoy the moment. It wasn't as if he didn't like it. On the other hand, he didn't know whether he liked Sasuke. He didn't know a lot recently, for that matter. This was going to confuse him later on, and he'd spend hours in his tree and many sleepless nights in his bed because of this. He knew it. But the voice of reason telling him to shove away Sasuke and make him go was quickly chased away by another voice in his head, saying that this was right and that if it felt good so it shouldn't stop.

He felt something tug at his hips and he opened his eyes. Sasuke was fumbling with his trousers but was having problems with his belt. Naruto gulped. He could guess where this was going, and _this_ he wasn't sure he liked. A cool hand slid into his pants and touched his hole. Something inside him, inexplicably, lurched with fright.

"S-stop…"

But Sasuke didn't listen. He kept fondling him. Naruto started shaking, and suddenly his mind went blank.

_The man looks at me with narrowed eyes. I can see the lust behind them. I'm sitting on his lap, and he's talking to me. It seems harmless but I know that as soon as the nurse leaves he will do __that__ again. He started a week ago. He said it was an examination, to see whether my body was healthy, but it felt weird._

_The nurse closes the door behind her, smiling to me and telling the man to let me sleep. The man tells her he knows what's best for me. After all he's a doctor. "Am I right?" He asks me. I don't answer. I want to go to bed, but he holds me firmly on his lap, so I can't jump off. Then he opens the buttons of my pyjama top and slides one big hand over my upper body. His hands are hairy and repulsive, and I hate the feeling, but I can't say anything._

_I can't talk. Not since I fell down that hill while playing. The nurse told me it's because of the shock. I want to be able to talk again. I want to tell the man to stop touching me. I want to shout at him to leave me alone. I can't._

_The man pulls out my penis and strokes it. I used to call it pee-wee but the man told me that it's called a penis. He tells me that I'm cute. When he touches me like that, it feels very strange. I don't know whether it's good or bad, but every time he does it, something comes out of my penis. I'm scared that it's blood. It doesn't look like blood, but what else can it be? I'm scared that he's injuring me even though it doesn't hurt._

_Something pokes my butt, and I know that he's going to pull out his penis too. It's much bigger, maybe because he's an adult. He makes me touch it like he touches mine. He also bleeds after some time, but he groans and smiles so maybe I'm not hurting him after all._

_This time he doesn't put me to bed as always. He tells me to lean on him. He tickles my butthole, and I gasp because it's weird. Suddenly he puts something in. He says it's his finger. I don't understand. After a while he puts another finger in. I don't like it. I squirm, but he scolds me and tells me to be a good boy, so I stop. I don't want to be a bad boy. I made everybody worry when I went missing, he says, so I have to make up for it now. Now he tells me to relax. He lifts me up and makes me sit on his lap again, but this time something goes into my butthole as soon as he lowers me down. I look and see his penis. I shake my head. I want to say that I don't want this. He doesn't see it. Then he shoves me down with one fast move and I only feel pain._

Naruto gasped. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Where had that memory come from?

Above him had Sasuke pulled off his trousers fully and was attempting to insert a finger into his butt. Naruto's stomach turned.

"I said stop!" He cried, sitting up and pushing Sasuke away. The latter looked at him with surprise.

"What is it?" He sounded confused. He tried to draw nearer again.

_The man tells me to move up and down and when I don't, he grabs my hips and moves me instead. It hurts. It hurts. It-_

"Don't touch me!" Naruto shouted. He looked up and saw that Sasuke was staring at him with an agonized expression.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to-"

"Don't look at me!" Naruto cut him off.

"But-"

"Get! Out!" He threw a pillow at Sasuke, and when he saw that the boy had dodged it he got up and shoved him out forcefully, repeating: "Go away!"

Then he sealed the tent entrance and fell onto his bed. He curled up, sobbing. There was something wrong with him. Something bad had happened and he had forgotten. Why did it all come back now? Couldn't everything be okay just for once? He buried his face in his sheets, shaking.

"I'm sorry…"

He felt miserable.

* * *

><p>Sasuke grabbed his head and crouched down, cursing. He was such an idiot. Why had he let go of himself? This was all his doing, and now Naruto would surely never speak to him again. This was bad. If he hadn't lost control of himself, if that stupid boy hadn't <em>provoked<em> him so much, if… if… Sasuke let out a strangled cry. He was so angry! He had known from the start that if he acted too rashly, nothing good would come from it, but no, of course he had to fuck everything up anyway. He straightened up and stomped towards his tent, cursing under his breath. He was so frustrated that he didn't notice Hinata watching him.

She ran to Kiba, who was talking to Temari while petting his dog, and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and they both hurried to Tsunade's trailer. When Tsunade heard what Hinata had to say, her eyes widened and she sent Kiba to get Orochimaru immediately. While Kiba was gone, she looked at Hinata questioningly, but Hinata only shrugged and shook her head. Tsunade sighed and buried her head in her hands, thinking. When Orochimaru finally arrived, he looked worried too. Akamaru, who hadn't left Kiba's side, started whimpering.

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><p><strong>AN:** *author gets chased by angry Sasuke (Why the fuck did you let him be raped you bitch?)* For the drama. Duh. Now please review and maybe things will turn out for the better. They will anyway. This is just a feeble attempt of mine to get some reviews/comments. Never mind me... *author hides in a hole and cries her eyes out*


	19. Worries

**A/N: **And the second chapter I promised!

**Warning: **Drama, cliffy (Mwahahaha, yes! again!)

**Disclaimer:** I'll tell you the day I own Naruto. Believe me, you'll notice. Yaoi... yaoi everywhere... *-*

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><p><strong>Worries<strong>

While Kiba shooed Akamaru out of Tsunade's trailer, Orochimaru paced up and down the small space between the door and the large table that took in most of the back. Hinata kept casting worried looks at him and then out of the window and then back at him, as if she were expecting something – or someone – but also trying to ignore the elder man's nervous pacing. Tsunade watched both of them intently. Either of them had their own thoughts to the matter, their own theories, their own scenario, but one thing stayed the same: Naruto had just had a relapse.

God, if it had been just a relapse, it wouldn't have been that bad. But remembering _that_ of all things… This was something she didn't wish on even the greatest of her enemies. What's more, she wished she had never let it happen. She wished she had found out, realized sooner that something was wrong. But the boy had been so brave! He hadn't breathed a word. Not during his hospitalization, and most certainly not after. They had all just avoided the topic. Now she regretted having done so. Maybe, if she had taken him to a psychiatrist, or a specialist for traumas, maybe then… She slapped herself inwardly for having been such a naïve fool. She didn't deserve to be called a guardian of these kids. She looked a Hinata and Kiba. They looked worried and pale. _See what you've done_, she told herself. _It's your fault they have to worry for their friend now._

She knew that someone should have been with Naruto at that moment, consoling him or helping him in any way, but the problem was, how do you deal with such a thing? Relapses are not a thing that passes like a tantrum of sorts. It's much more complicated than that. Maybe it would be wise to send over Kiba – or maybe Shikamaru, since he was more of a big-brother-figure to Naruto than Kiba.

Finally Orochimaru stopped pacing and stood still, pressing his fingers against his temples. He was still deep in thought. No-one said anything. They were all distracted by their own thoughts and worries.

"How did this happen", Orochimaru suddenly asked nobody in particular. It was Hinata who answered.

"I-I don't know, it j-j-just ha-happened. One moment he was f-fine and then su-suddenly he pushed S-Sasuke away and was sh-sh-shaking all over."

Tsunade frowned. "Are you sure it happened randomly? There was nothing that could have had a triggering effect?"

Hinata blushed. She didn't like the attention, but the prime reason was that she had kept silent about what exactly Naruto and Sasuke had been doing before Naruto's breakdown. She knew she wasn't supposed to withhold any information, and the fact that they had been doing… _that_ could have been a major trigger. But she chose to keep quiet. There was enough uproar already, and there was no need to make things even more complicated than they were.

A sting of guilt pierced her heart at the thought. No, not guilt, it was heartache. She knew her feelings were never going to be returned, even more since she had never really said or done anything that would have betrayed her feelings for Naruto. She had chosen to stay in the background – quiet, always watching, but never stepping out of the shadows. It was the easy but painful way out, but it didn't matter because the harder way, the confession, would have resulted in the same amount of pain and a large amount of awkwardness after it. So she believed her choice to be reasonable and never complained, not even to herself.

Hinata noticed that Kiba was looking at her from the side and gave him a weak smile. She didn't even blush, she was so indulged in her thoughts. Kiba on the other hand grew red and turned away quickly. He looked like a school child who had just been caught in the act, Hinata thought. It was cute. But then she shook her head and frowned. This wasn't the time to think of these things. She should have been focusing on Naruto.

How was she to help him? There was no way she could console him, she had neither the nerves nor the means. She couldn't take a peek into his future either to see how his situation would change if nobody did anything or somebody did something wrong. Ever since Sasuke had come, his aura had been obscured by a kind of fog and his future was undecipherable. It was like a TV going static in her head – she couldn't see or hear anything, just ripped noise and wobbly pictures that came and went too fast for her to recognize what they were.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru blinked.<p>

"What?"

Hinata shifted, feeling very uncomfortable.

"…pse."

"Hina, I can't hear you."

Hinata took a deep breath and chose to ignore Shikamaru's pet name for her.

"He had a relapse", she said, this time loudly.

Shikamaru leant back into his chair in the office they were in. This was the last thing he had expected to hear.

"When?"

"Just now."

"Is someone with him?"

Hinata fidgeted. "…No."

Shikamaru looked up, horrified. "You mean to tell me that he's still alone in his tent?"

"B-but we don't know who-"

"For God's sake anyone would do! Damn it!" He got up and walked out of the tent briskly. Didn't these people have any common sense? Surely, keeping Naruto company in a situation like this was the obvious thing to do, right? Behind him, Hinata jogged to keep up with him. He ignored her, fuming. And then especially when it was a relapse, why didn't anyone think of giving moral support? He knew that his intelligence was above average, but it was impossible for _all_ the others to be so stupid.

"It's not like I decided on this", Hinata finally cried out when Shikamaru started walking even faster to shake her off. The boy snorted.

"Oh, so you can't make decisions for yourself now?"

Hinata didn't say anything. He knew he was being mean, but he was angry.

"I wouldn't know what to do", Hinata finally said. Shikamaru slowed down. Maybe they were all just in shock. Of course they wouldn't know what to do, they had never been encountered by a situation like this one. He slowed down to a pace that didn't force Hinata to run alongside him. But then, what is the most obvious thing to do? You act on impulse. Comfort the person in trouble. He started walking faster again, provoked by his own thoughts, his anger returning. Don't say or do anything in particular, just hug them or something. Jeez, it really wasn't that hard.

He stormed into Naruto's tent and found him lying on his bed. He wasn't crying, and seemed to be sleeping. At first, Shikamaru thought it was a good thing. But then Hinata gasped beside him.

"Shika…"

"What?" He asked, walking over to Naruto to see whether he was really asleep.

"Shika, his aura's gone…"

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><p><strong>AN**: *dramatic music* More will be coming soon! Sorry for any typos, I didn't really proof-read it I just uploaded it as soon as it was finished. Now review, comment, whatever ;D I love you for staying with me so long...!


	20. Fuse

**A/N**: I know, it's been a long time. But I'm back after a creative pause. I needed it, by the way, because I had no idea how to continue this fic, but now I do so everything's okay again! ^^

**Warning**: Changes of perspective (brace yourselves), creepy insects

**Disclaimer**: You know it already.

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><p><strong><span>Fuse<span>**

Hinata covered her mouth, regretting saying it out loud. It sounded like a curse once the sentence was spoken. Tears welled up in her eyes. Shikamaru grabbed Naruto and shook him violently. The boy's body hung lifeless in his arms.  
>Was he even alive? Hinata had said his aura was gone. There was only one way for someone to lose his aura. And Shikamaru didn't even want to think of it. Not him. Not Naruto. How could a trauma even do that to a person? If he had had a heart attack his face would have been distorted. Suicide? No, no blood, no pills, no way. Then what? What?<br>He paced up and down, clenching his jaws together and growling. Then he swivelled around and began searching for something. He didn't know what, but he felt that he had to do something, anything. He grabbed at his hair and pulled at it, despaired. Suddenly he laughed bitterly. Really, what was he looking for? A magic wand to bring Naruto back? Moreover, was this a normal reaction? Naruto was gone, goddammit. It was so surreal that it didn't seem true.  
>A flicker of hope reached his heart. If it didn't seem true, then it could be that… A thought hit him. Hinata. She was a witch. She must know something, right? Something, anything to bring Naruto back… anything…? He turned to look at her. Hinata flinched at his facial expression and looked away. Then suddenly her eyes grew wide. She rushed over to Naruto and seemed to see something apart from the body lying there.<p>

"Sh-shika! It's back! It's faint, but it's there!" She cried through – now relieved – sobs.

Shikamaru looked at the boy. He laid Naruto on his back and listened. The muffled sound of a beating heart reached his ears. Then he sighed with relief when he head faint but audible sounds of breathing, and noticed that he had been holding his breath for quite some time now.

Naruto had just fainted. Shikamaru felt his legs grow weak.

"Thank God…" He fell onto his knees and buried his face into Naruto's bed sheets. "Thank God…"

Hinata looked at him through teary eyes. This was the first time she had seen him in such a state. Shikamaru never lost control of his feelings, never. Even his anger attacks were something calculated – he'd never let out everything. She knelt down beside him and touched his shoulder gently. He didn't shake her off, and so she hugged him. It was the least she could do – the only thing, really.

None of them noticed the bright orange butterfly flutter into the tent.

* * *

><p>Sasuke felt a chill go over his neck and back and shivered, although there was no wind and the sun was still shining, though fairly dimly. He had gone out of his tent to catch some fresh hear to clear his head. He felt stupid. After all the times he had been prevented from getting closer to Naruto, he'd fucked up his chance. Big time, on top of it. He didn't know what to do. He didn't even really know what had actually happened. Because, in all honesty, what had caused Naruto to react so weirdly in the first place? Okay, he had gone overboard. But… "don't look at me"? That had nothing to do with him taking it too far. And that pained expression, too. <em>Ugh, this doesn't make any sense<em>, he thought.

Suddenly he felt something tickle his bare shoulder (despite the cool mornings, the days were fairly hot and he'd been walking around in a black wife-beater) and looked down. A marine blue butterfly was sitting on his shoulder and was flapping its wings lazily. He reached out to swat it off but the creature took off and started circling him, finally settling on his chest, right above his heart. To Sasuke's dismay, it started glowing. Then, slowly, the butterfly began to dissolve, or rather to _melt_ into Sasuke's chest with a warm sensation to it. And then he felt a searing pain in his left shoulder, like a red-hot iron digging into his skin. He heard a distinct ringing in his ears and felt himself lose consciousness. Finally he fainted in a swirl of images flashing before his eyes.

* * *

><p>At the same time, Hinata spotted something orange flutter past her. She saw the butterfly land on Naruto's chest, and that the boy had opened his eyes with a soft sigh. Shikamaru heard him and wanted to say something, but Hinata held him back, watching the butterfly intently. She hadn't felt its presence, even though she usually sensed every single bug and blade of grass within ten meters. This wasn't an ordinary insect. Sure enough, it began to glow, and yet again she had to grip Shikamaru's shoulder tighter and shake her head when he looked at her in protest when he tried to lunge forward at the sight. Still watching the now brightly shining butterfly, she put a finger to her mouth, silencing Shika. Now, the creature began to diminish, growing smaller and smaller the second, when Hinata noticed that in fact, it was sinking into Naruto's chest. Naruto, who had until now been motionless and rigid, gasped again and lurched forward, clutching his stomach in pain. This time, Hinata herself lunged forward to hold Naruto. He wheezed, still clutching his stomach, then closed his eyes and fell backwards onto his bed again.<p>

Hinata exhaled. Everything had happened so quickly that she still wasn't exactly sure what was going on. But the colour that was coming back into Naruto's face told her that whatever it was, it was good and things were going to be okay. She pulled Shikamaru out of the tent without a word and ignored his demands for an explanation. Then she sent him off to his trailer. What she was about to do had nothing to do with him, and she wanted him out of the way for that. She would later tell him that the butterfly was just a hallucination caused by his shock and the heat – she hoped he'd believe her.

* * *

><p>Sasuke woke up with a throbbing pain in his shoulder and his ears buzzing. He sat up and groaned, trying to remember what had happened. When he did, he let himself fall back again in shock. A fucking <em>butterfly<em> had melted into his chest and left him unconscious for… what, an hour or so? And then those things he had dreamt of… He'd seen Naruto as a little kid, all sorts of things really, everyday stuff, but also that… that… he couldn't even think of it. Now, all of a sudden, he understood Naruto's reaction.

"Oh God", he murmured. "I'm such an idiot."

Then again he couldn't have known, but- those things that guy had been through…

"Oh God", he said again.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked up, surprised. Hinata jogged over to him, her face anxious and worried.

"Sasuke, did you-" She broke off and looked at Sasuke's shoulder. "Oh", she said softly. "That explains it."

He looked down and saw that his shoulder and upper arm had some sort of pattern on it, a circle with three drop-like signs and a mixture of swirls and spirals that strongly reminded him of black flames spreading out from around it.

"What the-" He gasped. How the fuck had he gotten this weird pattern on his arm?! "What is this?!"

"I'm not exactly sure", Hinata answered quietly. She reached out and gently touched the marks, but pulled her hand back immediately with a small cry. It had sent an electric shock down her hand.

"What? What is it?" Sasuke asked frantically. "Can I get it off somehow?"

"I… I don't think so." She got up. "Follow me."

Sasuke followed her back to Naruto's tent. Naruto was still lying on his bed, but he was breathing evenly now and Hinata was glad to notice that his aura was billowing up slightly over him. A good sign. But what was that? A golden tongue of his aura lashed out and seemed to be feeling the air around it. Finally it found what it was looking for: It encircled Sasuke and joined his silvery aura. A bright orange shade of panic appeared, but it wasn't because of the joining auras.

"Is he okay?" Sasuke asked worriedly. He didn't dare come near Naruto and Hinata understood him. He felt guilty. She felt a tinge of warped satisfaction, but shoved it aside. This was no time to feel jealous – there were more important things to do now. After all she'd seen, these two boys' destinies were tightly entwined.

She walked up to Naruto and lifted up his shirt. Sure enough, there was a large black spiral on his stomach with mysterious signs arranged around it, making it look a bit like a weirdly shaped eight-edged star. She'd never seen anything like it, let alone the signs. They weren't in any language she knew, neither ancient nor modern, and she'd learnt a great deal of them.

"So? What does all this mean?" Sasuke asked. He was fidgeting around and kept rubbing his arm where the tattoo was. Hinata shook her head and laughed quietly. So much for her hopes of somehow ending up with Naruto.

"It means that you two are destined for each other. You're now soulmates."

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><p><strong>AN**: And so it ends with another cliffy... Please review! See you soon ~


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